Cicero: ORATORIA

[1] Quae precatus a dis immortalibus sum, iudices, more institutoque maiorum illo die quo auspicato comitiis centuriatis L. Murenam consulem renuntiavi, ut ea res mihi fidei magistratuique meo, populo plebique Romanae bene atque feliciter eveniret, eadem precor ab isdem dis immortalibus ob eiusdem hominis consulatum una cum salute obtinendum, et ut vestrae mentes atque sententiae cum populi Romani voluntatibus suffragiisque consentiant, eaque res vobis populoque Romano pacem, tranquillitatem, otium concordiamque adferat. Quod si illa sollemnis comitiorum precatio consularibus auspiciis consecrata tantam habet in se vim et religionem quantam rei publicae dignitas postulat, idem ego sum precatus ut eis quoque hominibus quibus hic consulatus me rogante datus esset ea res fauste feliciter prospereque eveniret.

[1] What I prayed from the immortal gods, judges, according to the custom and institution of our ancestors, on that day on which, the auspices having been taken, in the centuriate comitia I proclaimed L. Murena consul, namely that that matter might turn out well and happily for my good faith and my magistracy, for the Roman people and plebs, the same I pray from those same immortal gods for the securing of that same man’s consulship together with his safety, and that your minds and judgments may agree with the wishes and suffrages of the Roman people, and that this may bring to you and to the Roman people peace, tranquility, leisure, and concord. But if that solemn prayer of the elections, consecrated by consular auspices, has in itself as much force and religious weight as the dignity of the commonwealth demands, I have likewise prayed that to those men also to whom this consulship, at my requesting, had been given, that matter might turn out auspiciously, happily, and prosperously.

[2] Quae cum ita sint, iudices, et cum omnis deorum immortalium potestas aut translata sit ad vos aut certe communicata vobiscum, idem consulem vestrae fidei commendat qui antea dis immortalibus commendavit, ut eiusdem hominis voce et declaratus consul et defensus beneficium populi Romani cum vestra atque omnium civium salute tueatur.

[2] Since these things are so, judges, and since all the power of the immortal gods has either been transferred to you or at least shared with you, the same man commends the consul to your good faith who previously commended him to the immortal gods, in order that, by the voice of the same man, both as declared consul and as defended, he may safeguard the benefaction of the Roman people together with your safety and that of all the citizens.

Et quoniam in hoc officio studium meae defensionis ab accusatoribus atque etiam ipsa susceptio causae reprensa est, ante quam pro L. Murena dicere instituo, pro me ipso pauca dicam, non quo mihi potior hoc quidem tempore sit offici mei quam huiusce salutis defensio, sed ut meo facto vobis probato maiore auctoritate ab huius honore fama fortunisque omnibus inimicorum impetus propulsare possim.

And since in this office the zeal of my defense has been reproved by the accusers, and even the very assumption of the case itself, before I set myself to speak on behalf of L. Murena, I will say a few things on my own behalf—not that at this time the duty of my office is of more weight for me than the defense of this man’s safety, but so that, my deed having been approved by you, I may be able with greater authority to repel from this man’s honor, fame, and all his fortunes the onsets of enemies.

[3] Et primum M. Catoni vitam ad certam rationis normam derigenti et diligentissime perpendenti momenta officiorum omnium de officio meo respondebo. Negat fuisse rectum Cato me et consulem et legis ambitus latorem et tam severe gesto consulatu causam L. Murenae attingere. Cuius reprehensio me vehementer movet, non solum ut vobis, iudices, quibus maxime debeo, verum etiam ut ipsi Catoni, gravissimo atque integerrimo viro, rationem facti mei probem.

[3] And first I will answer about my duty to M. Cato, who directs his life to a fixed norm of reason and most diligently weighs the moments of all duties. Cato says it was not right that I—both consul and the proposer of a law on ambitus, and with a consulship conducted so severely—should touch the case of L. Murena. Whose censure moves me strongly, not only that I may make good to you, judges, to whom I especially owe, but also to Cato himself, a most grave and most upright man, the rationale of my action.

A quo tandem, M. Cato, est aequius consulem defendi quam a consule? Quis mihi in re publica potest aut debet esse coniunctior quam is cui res publica a me iam traditur sustinenda magnis meis laboribus et periculis sustentata? Quod si in eis rebus repetendis quae mancipi sunt is periculum iudici praestare debet qui se nexu obligavit, profecto etiam rectius in iudicio consulis designatiis potissimum consul qui consulem declaravit auctor benefici populi Romani defensorque periculi esse debebit.

From whom, M. Cato, is it more equitable that a consul be defended than by a consul? Who in the commonwealth can or ought to be more closely conjoined with me than he to whom the commonwealth is now being handed over by me to be sustained, sustained by my great labors and dangers? And if, in reclaiming those things which are mancipi, he who has bound himself by nexus ought to bear the risk in judgment, surely also, and more rightly, in the trial of a consul-designate the consul who proclaimed him consul ought, above all, to be the sponsor of the Roman people’s benefit and the defender against the danger.

[4] Ac si, ut non nullis in civitatibus fieri solet, patronus huic causae publice constitueretur, is potissimum summo honore adfecto defensor daretur qui eodem honore praeditus non minus adferret ad dicendum auctoritatis quam facultatis. Quod si e portu solventibus ei qui iam in portum ex alto invehuntur praecipere summo studio solent et tempestatum rationem et praedonum et locorum, quod natura adfert ut eis faveamus qui eadem pericula quibus nos perfuncti sumus ingrediantur, quo tandem me esse animo oportet prope iam ex magna iactatione terram videntem in hunc cui video maximas rei publicae tempestates esse subeundas? Qua re si est boni consulis non solum videre quid agatur verum etiam providere quid futurum sit, ostendam alio loco quantum salutis communis intersit duos consules in re publica Kalendis Ianuariis esse.

[4] And if, as is wont to be done in some communities, a patron were publicly appointed to this cause, that defender would most especially be assigned who, invested with the highest honor, being endowed with the same honor, would bring to speaking no less authority than faculty. But if those who are already being borne into harbor from the deep are accustomed with the utmost zeal to give instructions to those who are casting off from harbor—both as to the reckoning of storms and of pirates and of places—because nature brings it about that we favor those who are entering upon the same dangers which we have gone through, with what disposition, then, ought I to be, I who now almost, after great tossing, see land, toward this man for whom I see the greatest tempests of the commonwealth must be undergone? Wherefore, if it belongs to a good consul not only to see what is being done but also to provide for what will be, I will show elsewhere how much it concerns the common safety that there be two consuls in the state on the Kalends of January.

[5] Quod si ita est, non tam me officium debuit ad hominis amici fortunas quam res publica consulem ad communem salutem defendendam vocare. Nam quod legem de ambitu tuli, certe ita tuli ut eam quam mihimet ipsi iam pridem tulerim de civium periculis defendendis non abrogarem. Etenim si largitionem factam esse confiterer idque recte factum esse defenderem, facerem improbe, etiam si alius legem tulisset; cum vero nihil commissum contra legem esse defendam, quid est quod meam defensionem latio legis impediat?

[5] If this is so, it was not so much duty that ought to have called me to a friend’s fortunes as the commonwealth ought to have called the consul to defend the common safety. For as to my having carried a law on ambitus, surely I so carried it that I would not abrogate that law which I had long ago carried for myself concerning the defending of citizens in peril. For indeed, if I were to confess that largess had been made and were to defend that as rightly done, I would act improperly, even if another had carried the law; but since I maintain that nothing has been committed against the law, what is there in the enactment (latio) of the law to impede my defense?

[6] Negat esse eiusdem severitatis Catilinam exitium rei publicae intra moenia molientem verbis et paene imperio ex urbe expulisse et nunc pro L. Murena dicere. Ego autem has partis lenitatis et misericordiae quas me natura ipsa docuit semper egi libenter, illam vero gravitatis seve ritatisque personam non appetivi, sed ab re publica mihi impositam sustinui, sicut huius imperi dignitas in summo periculo civium postulabat. Quod si tum, cum res publica vim et severitatem desiderabat, vici naturam et tam vehemens fui quam cogebar, non quam volebam, nunc cum omnes me causae ad misericordiam atque ad humanitatem vocent, quanto tandem studio debeo naturae meae consuetudinique servire?

[6] They deny that it is of the same severity to have driven Catiline, who was contriving the ruin of the commonwealth within the walls, out of the city by words and almost by command, and now to speak on behalf of L. Murena. I, however, have always gladly played these parts of lenity and mercy which nature itself taught me; but that person of gravity and severity I did not seek, rather I bore it when it was imposed upon me by the republic, just as the dignity of this command demanded in the greatest peril of the citizens. And if then, when the republic required force and severity, I conquered my nature and was as vehement as I was compelled to be, not as I wished, now, when all considerations call me to mercy and to humanity, with how great zeal ought I to serve my nature and my consuetude?

Ac de officio defensionis meae ac de ratione accusationis tuae fortasse etiam alia in parte orationis dicendum nobis erit.

And about the office of my defense and the rationale of your accusation, perhaps we shall also have to speak in another part of the oration.

[7] Sed me, iudices, non minus hominis sapientissimi atque ornatissimi, Ser. Sulpici, conquestio quam Catonis accusatio commovebat qui gravissime et acerbissime <se> ferre dixit me familiaritatis necessitudinisque oblitum causam L. Murenae contra se defendere. Huic ego, iudices, satis facere cupio vosque adhibere arbitros.

[7] But I, judges, was moved no less by the complaint of a most wise and most distinguished man, Servius Sulpicius, than by Cato’s accusation—who said that he bore it most gravely and most bitterly that I, forgetful of familiarity and necessitude, was defending the case of L. Murena against himself. To him I, judges, wish to make satisfaction, and to call you in as arbiters.

Nam cum grave est vere accusari in amicitia, tum, etiam si falso accuseris, non est neglegendum. Ego, Ser. Sulpici, me in petitione tua tibi omnia studia atque officia pro nostra necessitudine et debuisse confiteor et praestitisse arbitror.

For since it is grievous to be truly accused in friendship, then, even if you are falsely accused, it is not to be neglected. I, Ser. Sulpici, confess that in your petition I owed to you all zeal and offices by reason of our necessitude, and I think I have rendered them.

Nihil tibi consulatum petenti a me defuit quod esset aut ab amico aut a gratioso aut a consule postulandum. Abiit illud tempus; mutata ratio est. Sic existimo, sic mihi persuadeo, me tibi contra honorem Murenae quantum tu a me postulare ausus sis, tantum debuisse, contra salutem nihil debere.

Nothing was lacking to you, as you were petitioning the consulship, from me that ought to be asked either from a friend, or from a man in favor, or from a consul. That time has passed; the rationale is altered. Thus I deem, thus I persuade myself: that I owed you, against the honor of Murena, as much as you dared to demand from me; against his safety, I owe nothing.

[8] Neque enim, si tibi tum cum peteres <consulatum studui, nunc> cum Murenam ipsum petas, adiutor eodem pacto esse debeo. Atque hoc non modo non laudari sed ne concedi quidem potest ut amicis nostris accusantibus non etiam alienissimos defendamus. Mihi autem cum Murena, iudices, et magna et vetus amicitia est, quae in capitis dimicatione a Ser.

[8] Nor indeed, if I then, when you were seeking <the consulship I supported you, now> when you attack Murena himself, ought I to be an assistant on the same terms. And this can not only not be praised, but cannot even be conceded: that, when our friends are prosecuting, we should not also defend even the most alien. But I, judges, have with Murena both a great and an old friendship, which, in a struggle concerning his very life, from Ser.

Sulpicio non idcirco obruetur quod ab eodem in honoris contentione superata est. Quae si causa non esset, tamen vel dignitas hominis vel honoris eius quem adeptus est amplitudo summam mihi superbiae crudelitatisque infamiam inussisset, si hominis et suis et populi Romani ornamentis amplissimi causam tanti periculi repudiassem. Neque enim iam mihi licet neque est integrum ut meum laborem hominum periculis sublevandis non impertiam.

Sulpicius will not on that account be overwhelmed because by this same man he was overcome in the contest for honor. And even if this cause were not, nevertheless either the dignity of the man or the amplitude of the honor which he has obtained would have branded me with the highest infamy of pride and cruelty, if I had repudiated, amid so great a peril, the cause of a man most ample in ornaments, both his own and those of the Roman people. For it is now neither permitted to me nor is it an unimpaired option not to impart my labor to the relieving of men’s perils.

Nam cum praemia mihi tanta pro hac industria sint data quanta antea nemini, sic <existimo, labores quos in petitione> exceperis, eos, cum adeptus sis, deponere, esse hominis et astuti et ingrati.

For since rewards so great have been given to me for this industry as to no one before, thus <I consider, the labors which in the petition> you have undergone, to lay them aside, once you have attained it, is the part of a man both astute and ungrateful.

[9] Quod si licet desinere, si te auctore possum, si nulla inertiae <infamia>, nulla superbiae turpitudo, nulla inhumanitatis culpa suscipitur, ego vero libenter desino. Sin autem fuga laboris desidiam, repudiatio supplicum superbiam, amicorum neglectio improbitatem coarguit, nimirum haec causa est eius modi quam nec industrius quisquam nec misericors nec officiosus deserere possit. Atque huiusce rei coniecturam de tuo ipsius studio, Servi, facillime ceperis.

[9] If it is permitted to desist, if I can on your authority, if no <infamy> of inertia, no turpitude of pride, no fault of inhumanity is incurred, I indeed gladly desist. But if flight from labor convicts of sloth, the repudiation of suppliants of pride, the neglect of friends of improbity, then surely this cause is of such a kind as neither an industrious man nor a merciful nor a dutiful one can desert. And you can most easily take a conjecture of this matter from your own zeal, Servius.

Nam si tibi necesse putas etiam adversariis amicorum tuorum de iure consulentibus respondere, et si turpe existimas te advocato illum ipsum quem contra veneris causa cadere, noli tam esse iniustus ut, cum tui fontes vel inimicis tuis pateant, nostros etiam amicis putes clausos esse oportere.

For if you think it necessary to respond even to the adversaries of your friends who consult about law, and if you deem it disgraceful that, with you as advocate, that very man against whom you have come should fall in the case, do not be so unjust as to think that, while your fountains stand open even to your enemies, ours ought to be shut even to our friends.

[10] Etenim si me tua familiaritas ab hac causa removisset, et si hoc idem Q. Hortensio, M. Crasso, clarissimis viris, si item ceteris a quibus intellego tuam gratiam magni aestimari accidisset, in ea civitate consul designatus defensorem non haberet in qua nemini umquam infimo maiores nostri patronum deesse voluerunt. Ego vero, iudices, ipse me existimarem nefarium si amico, crudelem si misero, superbum si consuli defuissem. Qua re quod dandum est amicitiae, large dabitur a me, ut tecum agam, Servi, non secus ac si meus esset frater, qui mihi est carissimus, isto in loco; quod tribuendum est officio, fidei, religioni, id ita moderabor ut meminerim me contra amici studium pro amici periculo dicere.

[10] For indeed, if your familiarity had removed me from this cause, and if this same thing had happened to Q. Hortensius, M. Crassus, most illustrious men, and likewise to the others by whom I understand your favor to be greatly esteemed, a consul designate would not have a defender in that commonwealth in which our ancestors wished that a patron should never be lacking to anyone of the lowest rank. But I, judges, would deem myself nefarious if I had failed a friend, cruel if I had failed a wretch, proud if I had failed a consul. Wherefore, what is to be given to friendship will be given liberally by me, that I may deal with you, Servius, not otherwise than as if in that position it were my own brother, who is most dear to me; what is to be allotted to duty, good faith, and religious scruple, that I will so moderate as to remember that I am speaking against a friend’s zeal on behalf of a friend’s peril.

[11] Intellego, iudices, tris totius accusationis partis fuisse, et earum unam in reprehensione vitae, alteram in contentione dignitatis, tertiam in criminibus ambitus esse versatam. Atque harum trium partium prima illa quae gravissima debebat esse ita fuit infirma et levis ut illos lex magis quaedam accusatoria quam vera male dicendi facultas de vita L. Murenae dicere aliquid coegerit. Obiecta est enim Asia; quae ab hoc non ad voluptatem et luxuriam expetita est sed in militari labore peragrata.

[11] I understand, judges, that there were three parts to the whole accusation, and that one of them dealt with the reprehension of life, another with the contention of dignity, the third with charges of electoral bribery. And of these three parts, that first one which ought to have been the most weighty was so infirm and light that some accusatory law rather than any true faculty for speaking ill compelled them to say something about the life of L. Murena. For Asia was objected: which by this man was not sought for pleasure and luxury, but was traversed in military toil.

Qui si adulescens patre suo imperatore non meruisset, aut hostem aut patris imperium timuisse aut a parente repudiatus videretur. An cum sedere in equis triumphantium praetextati potissimum filii soleant, huic donis militaribus patris triumphum decorare fugiendum fuit, ut rebus communiter gestis paene simul cum patre triumpharet?

If, as a youth, he had not served under his father as commander, he would have seemed either to have feared the enemy or his father’s imperium, or to have been repudiated by his parent. Or, since praetextate sons are especially wont to sit on the horses of men celebrating a triumph, should he have shunned adorning his father’s triumph with military gifts, so that, with exploits undertaken in common, he all but triumphed together with his father?

[12] Hic vero, iudices, et fuit in Asia et viro fortissimo, parenti suo, magno adiumento in periculis, solacio in laboribus, gratulationi in victoria fuit. Et si habet Asia suspicionem luxuriae quandam, non Asiam numquam vidisse sed in Asia continenter vixisse laudandum est. Quam ob rem non Asiae nomen obiciendum Murenae fuit ex qua laus familiae, memoria generi, honos et gloria nomini constituta est, sed aliquod aut in Asia susceptum aut ex Asia deportatum flagitium ac dedecus.

[12] He, indeed, judges, both was in Asia and was to a most brave man, his father, a great aid in dangers, a solace in labors, a cause for congratulation in victory. And if Asia has a certain suspicion of luxury, the thing to be praised is not never to have seen Asia, but to have lived with continence in Asia. Wherefore, the name of Asia ought not to have been thrown at Murena, from which praise to the family, remembrance to the stock, honor and glory to the name have been established, but rather some scandal and disgrace either undertaken in Asia or brought back from Asia.

Meruisse vero stipendia in eo bello quod tum populus Romanus non modo maximum sed etiam solum gerebat virtutis, patre imperatore libentissime meruisse pietatis, finem stipendiorum patris victoriam ac triumphum fuisse felicitatis fuit. Male dicto quidem idcirco nihil in hisce rebus loci est quod omnia laus occupavit.

To have served his stipendia in that war which at that time the Roman people were waging not only as the greatest but even as the only one, was a mark of virtue; to have most gladly served with his father as commander was a mark of pietas; that the end of his stipendia was his father’s victory and triumph was a mark of felicity. Therefore for slander there is no place at all in these matters, because praise has occupied everything.

[13] Saltatorem appellat L. Murenam Cato. Maledictum est, si vere obicitur, vehementis accusatoris, sin falso, maledici conviciatoris. Qua re cum ista sis auctoritate, non debes, M. Cato, adripere maledictum ex trivio aut ex scurrarum aliquo convicio neque temere consulem populi Romani saltatorem vocare, sed circumspicere quibus praeterea vitiis adfectum esse necesse sit eum cui vere istud obici possit.

[13] Cato styles L. Murena a dancer. It is a malediction: if it is truly objected, it is of a vehement accuser; but if falsely, of a slanderous reviler. Wherefore, since you are of such authority, you ought not, M. Cato, to snatch a malediction from the crossroads or from some buffoons’ railing, nor rashly call the consul of the Roman people a dancer, but to look around at what further vices he must necessarily be affected with, the man to whom that could truly be alleged.

Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit, neque in solitudine neque in convivio moderato atque honesto. Tempestivi convivi, amoeni loci, multarum deliciarum comes est extrema saltatio. Tu mihi adripis hoc quod necesse est omnium vitiorum esse postremum, relinquis illa quibus remotis hoc vitium omnino esse non potest?

For indeed hardly anyone dances sober, unless perchance he is insane, neither in solitude nor at a moderate and honest banquet. The final dancing is the companion of a timely banquet, of a pleasant place, of many delights. Do you seize upon this which of all vices must be the last, while you leave aside those, with the removal of which this vice cannot exist at all?

Nullum turpe convivium, non amor, non comissatio, non libido, non sumptus ostenditur, et, cum ea non reperiantur quae voluptatis nomen habent quamquam vitiosa sunt, in quo ipsam luxuriam reperire non potes, in eo te umbram luxuriae reperturum putas?

No shameful banquet is shown, not love, not comissation, not libido, not expenditure; and, since those things are not found which bear the name of pleasure, though they are vices, in one in whom you cannot find luxury itself, do you think you will find the shadow of luxury?

[14] Nihil igitur in vitam L. Murenae dici potest, nihil, inquam, omnino, iudices. Sic a me consul designatus defenditur ut eius nulla fraus, nulla avaritia, nulla perfidia, nulla crudelitas, nullum petulans dictum in vita proferatur. Bene habet; iacta sunt fundamenta defensionis.

[14] Therefore nothing can be said against the life of Lucius Murena—nothing, I say, at all, judges. Thus the consul-designate is defended by me, such that no fraud, no avarice, no perfidy, no cruelty, no petulant remark is brought forth from his life. Good; the foundations of the defense have been laid.

Nondum enim nostris laudibus, quibus utar postea, sed prope inimicorum confessione virum bonum atque integrum hominem defendimus. Quo consti tuto facilior est mihi aditus ad contentionem dignitatis, quae pars altera fuit accusationis.

For we are not yet by our own praises, which I shall employ afterward, but almost by the confession of his enemies, defending a good man and a man of integrity. With this established, the access is easier for me to the contention about dignity, which was the other part of the accusation.

[15] Summam video esse in te, Ser. Sulpici, dignitatem generis, integritatis, industriae ceterorumque ornamentorum omnium quibus fretum ad consulatus petitionem adgredi par est. Paria cognosco esse ista in L. Murena, atque ita paria ut neque ipse dignitate vinci <a te> potuerit neque te dignitate superarit.

[15] I see that there is in you, Servius Sulpicius, the highest dignity of lineage, of integrity, of industry, and of all the other ornaments whatsoever, relying on which it is fitting to approach the petition for the consulship. I recognize these things to be equal in L. Murena, and so equal that neither could he himself have been conquered in dignity <by you> nor have you surpassed him in dignity.

Contempsisti L. Murenae genus, extulisti tuum. Quo loco si tibi hoc sumis, nisi qui patricius sit, neminem bono esse genere natum, facis ut rursus plebes in Aventinum sevocanda esse videatur. Sin autem sunt amplae et honestae familiae plebeiae, et proavus L. Murenae et avus praetor fuit, et pater, cum amplissime atque honestissime ex praetura triumphasset, hoc faciliorem huic gradum consulatus adipiscendi reliquit quod is iam patri debitus a filio petebatur.

You have despised the lineage of L. Murena; you have exalted your own. In this place, if you assume this for yourself—that, unless a man be a patrician, no one is born of a good stock—you make it seem that the plebs must again be called away to the Aventine. But if there are ample and honorable plebeian families, both the great‑grandfather of L. Murena and his grandfather held the praetorship, and his father, when after his praetorship he had most splendidly and most honorably triumphed, left to this man an easier step toward attaining the consulship, because that consulship, already owed to the father, was being sought by the son.

[16] Tua vero nobilitas, Ser. Sulpici, tametsi summa est, tamen hominibus litteratis et historicis est notior, populo vero et suffragatoribus obscurior. Pater enim fuit equestri loco, avus nulla inlustri laude celebratus.

[16] Your nobility indeed, Servius Sulpicius, although it is highest, is nevertheless better known to literate men and historians, but to the people and to the suffragators it is more obscure. For your father was of equestrian rank, your grandfather celebrated by no illustrious praise.

Itaque non ex sermone hominum recenti sed ex annalium vetustate eruenda memoria est nobilitatis tuae. Qua re ego te semper in nostrum numerum adgregare soleo, quod virtute industriaque perfecisti ut, cum equitis Romani esses filius, summa tamen amplitudine dignus putarere. Nec mihi umquam minus in Q. Pompeio, novo homine et fortissimo viro, virtutis esse visum est quam in homine nobilissimo, M. Aemilio.

Therefore the memory of your nobility must be unearthed not from the recent discourse of men but from the antiquity of the annals. Wherefore I am always accustomed to aggregate you to our number, because by virtue and industry you achieved that, although you were the son of a Roman eques, you were nonetheless deemed worthy of the highest eminence. Nor has virtue ever seemed to me to be less in Q. Pompeio, a new man and a most brave man, than in the most noble man, M. Aemilio.

Etenim eiusdem animi atque ingeni est posteris suis, quod Pompeius fecit, amplitudinem nominis quam non acceperit tradere et, ut Scaurus, memoriam prope intermortuam generis sua virtute renovare.

For indeed it is of the same spirit and genius to hand down to his descendants, as Pompey did, the amplitude (greatness) of a name which he had not received, and, like Scaurus, to renovate by his own virtue the well-nigh extinguished memory of the lineage.

[17] Quamquam ego iam putabam, iudices, multis viris fortibus ne ignobilitas generis obiceretur meo labore esse perfectum, qui non modo Curiis, Catonibus, Pompeiis, antiquis illis fortissimis viris, novis hominibus, sed his recentibus, Mariis et Didiis et Caeliis, commemorandis id agebam. Cum vero ego tanto intervallo claustra ista nobilitatis refregissem, ut aditus ad consulatum posthac, sicut apud maiores nostros fuit, non magis nobilitati quam virtuti pateret, non arbitrabar, cum ex familia vetere et inlustri consul designatus ab equitis Romani filio consule defenderetur, de generis novitate accusatores esse dicturos. Etenim mihi ipsi accidit ut cum duobus patriciis, altero improbissimo atque audacissimo, altero modestissimo atque optimo viro, peterem; superavi tamen dignitate Catilinam, gratia Galbam.

[17] Although I already supposed, judges, that by my toil it had been brought to completion that to many brave men the ignobility of their stock should not be objected, since by commemorating not only the Curii, the Catones, the Pompeii—those most valiant men of old, new men—but also these more recent ones, the Marii and the Didii and the Caelii, I was aiming at that. But when indeed I had, after so long an interval, broken open those barriers of nobility, so that the access to the consulship thereafter, as it was among our ancestors, lay open no more to nobility than to virtue, I did not think that, when a consul-designate from an old and illustrious family was being defended by a consul, the son of a Roman knight, the accusers would be going to speak about the newness of his stock. For it befell me myself that I was a candidate along with two patricians—the one most wicked and most audacious, the other most modest and an excellent man; yet I surpassed Catiline in dignity, Galba in favor.

Quod si id crimen homini novo esse deberet, profecto mihi neque inimici neque invidi defuissent.

But if that ought to be a charge against a new man, surely I would not have lacked either enemies or the envious.

[18] Omittamus igitur de genere dicere cuius est magna in utroque dignitas; videamus cetera. 'Quaesturam una petiit et sum ego factus prior.' Non est respondendum ad omnia. Neque enim vestrum quem quam fugit, cum multi pares dignitate fiant, unus autem primum solus possit obtinere, non eundem esse ordinem dignitatis et renuntiationis, propterea quod renuntiatio gradus habeat, dignitas autem sit persaepe eadem omnium.

[18] Let us, therefore, omit to speak about lineage, in which there is great dignity on both sides; let us see the rest. 'He sought the quaestorship together with me, and I was made first.' One need not answer to everything. For it escapes none of you that, when many become equal in dignity, yet only one alone can obtain the first place, the order of dignity is not the same as that of the announcement, because the announcement has degrees, whereas the dignity is very often the same for all.

Sed quaestura utriusque prope modum pari momento sortis fuit. Habuit hic lege Titia provinciam tacitam et quietam, tu illam cui, cum quaestores sortiuntur, etiam adclamari solet, Ostiensem, non tam gratiosam et inlustrem quam negotiosam et molestam. Consedit utriusque nomen in quaestura.

But the quaestorship of each was almost of equal moment by the hazard of the lot. This man, by the Lex Titia, had a province quiet and calm; you had that one which, when quaestors cast lots, is even wont to be acclaimed, the Ostian—not so favored and illustrious as busy and burdensome. The reputation of each was settled in the quaestorship.

Nullum enim vobis sors campum dedit in quo excurrere virtus cognoscique posset.

For the lot gave you no field in which virtue might run forth and be recognized.

[19] Reliqui temporis spatium in contentionem vocatur. Ab utroque dissimillima ratione tractatum est. Servius hic nobiscum hanc urba nam militiam respondendi, scribendi, cavendi plenam sollicitudinis ac stomachi secutus est; ius civile didicit, multum vigilavit, laboravit, praesto multis fuit, multorum stultitiam perpessus est, adrogantiam pertulit, difficultatem exsorbuit; vixit ad aliorum arbitrium, non ad suum.

[19] The span of the remaining time is called into contention. By both it was handled in a most dissimilar manner. Servius here, with us, followed this urban campaign of responding, writing, taking precautions—full of solicitude and bile; he learned the civil law, kept much vigil, labored, was at the service of many, endured the stupidity of many, bore arrogance, swallowed difficulty; he lived at the discretion of others, not his own.

Magna laus et grata hominibus unum hominem elaborare in ea scientia quae sit multis profutura.

Great praise, and pleasing to men, is for a single man to labor in that science which is to be of profit to many.

[20] Quid Murena interea? Fortissimo et sapientissimo viro, summo imperatori legatus, L. Lucullo, fuit; qua in legatione duxit exercitum, signa contulit, manum conseruit, magnas copias hostium fudit, urbis partim vi, partim obsidione cepit, Asiam istam refertam et eandem delicatam sic obiit ut in ea neque avaritiae neque luxuriae vestigium reliquerit, maximo in bello sic est versatus ut hic multas res et magnas sine imperatore gesserit, nullam sine hoc imperator. Atque haec quamquam praesente L. Lucullo loquor, tamen ne ab ipso propter periculum nostrum concessam videamur habere licentiam fingendi, publicis litteris testata sunt omnia, quibus L. Lucullus tantum laudis impertiit quantum neque ambitiosus imperator neque invidus tribuere alteri in communicanda gloria debuit.

[20] What meanwhile did Murena do? He was legate to L. Lucullus, a most brave and most wise man, a foremost commander; in which legation he led an army, brought standards together, joined hand-to-hand combat, routed great forces of the enemy, took cities partly by force, partly by siege; he traversed that Asia, crammed full and at the same time delicate, in such a way that in it he left not a trace of avarice nor of luxury; in a very great war he so conducted himself that this man performed many and great actions without the commander, while the commander performed none without this man. And although I say these things with L. Lucullus present, nevertheless, lest we seem to have a license of feigning granted by himself on account of our peril, all things are attested by public letters, in which L. Lucullus imparted so much praise as neither an ambitious commander nor an envious one ought to have bestowed upon another in the sharing of glory.

[21] Summa in utroque est honestas, summa dignitas; quam ego, si mihi per Servium liceat, pari atque eadem in laude ponam. Sed non licet; agitat rem militarem, insectatur totam hanc legationem, adsiduitatis et operarum harum cotidianarum putat esse consulatum. 'Apud exercitum mihi fueris' inquit; 'tot annos forum non attigeris; afueris tam diu et, cum longo intervallo veneris, cum his qui in foro habitarint de dignitate contendas?' Primum ista nostra adsiduitas, Servi, nescis quantum interdum adferat hominibus fastidi, quantum satietatis.

[21] The highest honorableness is in each, the highest dignity; which I, if it were permitted me by Servius, would place in equal and the same praise. But it is not permitted; he agitates the military affair, he attacks this whole legation, he thinks the consulship to consist in assiduity and these everyday labors. “You have been with the army for me,” he says; “for so many years you have not touched the forum; you will have been away so long and, when after a long interval you come, will you contend about dignity with those who have dwelt in the forum?” First, that assiduity of ours, Servius, you do not know how much weariness it sometimes brings to men, how much satiety.

Mihi quidem vehementer expediit positam in oculis esse gratiam; sed tamen ego mei satietatem magno meo labore superavi et tu item fortasse; verum tamen utrique nostrum deside rium nihil obfuisset.

For my part, it was vehemently expedient that favor be set before the eyes; yet nevertheless I overcame the satiety of me by my great labor, and you likewise perhaps; but still, for each of us, desire would have been no hindrance at all.

[22] Sed ut hoc omisso ad studiorum atque artium contentionem revertamur, qui potest dubitari quin ad consulatum adipiscendum multo plus adferat dignitatis rei militaris quam iuris civilis gloria? Vigilas tu de nocte ut tuis consultoribus respondeas, ille ut eo quo intendit mature cum exercitu perveniat; te gallorum, illum bucinarum cantus exsuscitat; tu actionem instituis, ille aciem instruit; tu caves ne tui consultores, ille ne urbes aut castra capiantur; ille tenet et scit ut hostium copiae, tu ut aquae pluviae arceantur; ille exercitatus est in propagandis finibus, tuque in regendis. Ac nimirum--dicendum est enim quod sentio--rei militaris virtus praestat ceteris omnibus.

[22] But so that, leaving this aside, we may return to the contest of pursuits and arts, how can it be doubted that, for attaining the consulship, the glory of military service brings much more dignity than that of civil law? You keep vigil by night so as to answer your consultors, he so that he may reach in due time with his army the place he aims at; the song of cocks awakens you, the blasts of the trumpets him; you institute an action, he draws up the battle-line; you take precautions that your consultors not be caught out, he that cities or camps not be captured; he holds and knows how the forces of the enemy are to be warded off, you how the waters of rain are to be warded off; he has been trained in extending frontiers, and you in regulating them. And indeed—for it must be said what I think—the virtue of the military art surpasses all the rest.

Haec nomen populo Romano, haec huic urbi aeternam gloriam peperit, haec orbem terrarum parere huic imperio coegit; omnes urbanae res, omnia haec nostra praeclara studia et haec forensis laus et industria latet in tutela ac praesidio bellicae virtutis. Simul atque increpuit suspicio tumultus, artes ilico nostrae conticiscunt.

This has won a name for the Roman people, this has brought eternal glory to this city, this has compelled the whole world to obey this imperium; all civic affairs, all these our brilliant pursuits, and this forensic renown and industry lie concealed under the guardianship and safeguard of martial virtue. As soon as a suspicion of tumult rings out, our arts straightway fall silent.

[23] Et quoniam mihi videris istam scientiam iuris tamquam filiolam osculari tuam, non patiar te in tanto errore versari ut istud nescio quid quod tanto opere didicisti praeclarum aliquid esse arbitrere. Aliis ego te virtutibus, continentiae, gravitatis, iustitiae, fidei, ceteris omnibus, consulatu et omni honore semper dignissimum iudicavi; quod quidem ius civile didicisti, non dicam operam perdidisti, sed illud dicam, nullam esse in ista disciplina munitam ad consulatum viam. Omnes enim artes, quae nobis populi Romani studia concilient, et admirabilem dignitatem et pergratam utilitatem debent habere.

[23] And since you seem to me to kiss that knowledge of law as if it were your own little daughter, I will not allow you to be involved in so great an error that you think that that I-know-not-what which you have learned with such effort is something preeminent. By other virtues—self-restraint, gravity, justice, good faith, and all the rest—I have judged you always most worthy of the consulship and every honor; as to the fact that you have learned civil law, I will not say you have lost your labor, but I will say this: that in that discipline there is no road fortified to the consulship. For all arts which win for us the enthusiasms of the Roman people ought to have both admirable dignity and most welcome utility.

[24] Summa dignitas est in eis qui militari laude antecellunt; omnia enim quae sunt in imperio et in statu civitatis ab his defendi et firmari putantur; summa etiam utilitas, si quidem eorum consilio et periculo cum re publica tum etiam nostris rebus perfrui possumus. Gravis etiam illa est et plena dignitatis dicendi facultas quae saepe valuit in consule deligendo, posse consilio atque oratione et senatus et populi et eorum qui res iudicant mentis permovere. Quaeritur consul qui dicendo non numquam comprimat tribunicios furores, qui concitatum populum flectat, qui largitioni resistat.

[24] The highest dignity is in those who excel in military renown; for all things that belong to command and to the condition of the state are thought to be defended and made firm by them; there is also the highest utility, since indeed by their counsel and risk we are able to enjoy both the commonwealth and also our own affairs. Weighty too, and full of dignity, is that faculty of speaking which has often prevailed in choosing a consul—the ability by counsel and by oration to move the minds of the senate and of the people and of those who judge causes. A consul is sought who by speaking may sometimes compress tribunician furies, who may bend a stirred-up people, who may resist largesse.

Non mirum, si ob hanc facultatem homines saepe etiam non nobiles consulatum consecuti sunt, praesertim cum haec eadem res plurimas gratias, firmissimas amicitias, maxima studia pariat. Quorum in isto vestro artificio, Sulpici, nihil est.

It is no marvel, if on account of this faculty men have often, even those not of noble birth, attained the consulship, especially since this same thing brings forth very many favors, the firmest friendships, the greatest supports. Of which there is nothing in that art of yours, Sulpicius.

[25] Primum dignitas in tam tenui scientia non potest esse; res enim sunt parvae, prope in singulis litteris atque interpunctionibus verborum occupatae. Deinde, etiam si quid apud maiores nostros fuit in isto studio admirationis, id enuntiatis vestris mysteriis totum est contemptum et abiectum. Posset agi lege necne pauci quondam sciebant; fastos enim volgo non habebant.

[25] First, dignity cannot reside in so tenuous a science; for the matters are small, taken up almost with single letters and the punctuation-marks of words. Next, even if among our ancestors there was anything of admiration in that pursuit, once your mysteries were proclaimed, it all was despised and cast aside. Whether a case could be proceeded with by law or not, once upon a time few knew; for they did not have the fasti—the calendar of lawful days—made public.

Erant in magna potentia qui consulebantur; a quibus etiam dies tamquam a Chaldaeis petebatur. Inventus est scriba quidam, Cn. Flavius, qui cornicum oculos confixerit et singulis diebus ediscendis fastos populo proposuerit et ab ipsis <his> cautis iuris consultis eorum sapientiam compilarit. Itaque irati illi, quod sunt veriti ne dierum ratione pervolgata et cognita sine sua opera lege <agi> posset, verba quaedam composuerunt ut omnibus in rebus ipsi interessent.

Those who were consulted were in great potency; from whom even the days were asked, as if from the Chaldeans. There was found a certain scribe, Cn. Flavius, who, as the proverb goes, pierced the crows’ eyes, and by learning the fasti day by day set them out for the people, and from these very cautious jurisconsults compiled their wisdom. And so those men, angry because they feared that, the reckoning of the days being spread abroad and known, legal action could be conducted without their assistance, composed certain formulas of words so that they themselves might have to be present in all matters.

[26] Cum hoc fieri bellissime posset: 'Fundus Sabinus meus est.' 'Immo meus,' deinde iudicium, noluerunt. 'Fvndvs' inquit 'qvi est in agro qvi sabinvs vocatvr.' Satis verbose; cedo quid postea? 'evm ego ex ivre Qviritivm mevm esse aio.' Quid tum?

[26] Since this could be done most excellently thus: 'The Sabine estate is mine.' 'Nay, mine,' then a trial; they were unwilling. 'The estate,' he says, 'which is in the territory which is called Sabinus.' Quite verbose; come, what next? 'I assert that it is mine by the ius of the Quirites.' What then?

'inde ibi ego te ex ivre manvm consertvm voco.' Quid huic tam loquaciter litigioso responderet ille unde petebatur non habebat. Transit idem iuris consultus tibicinis Latini modo. 'Vnde tv me' inquit 'ex ivre manvm consertvm vocasti, inde ibi ego te revoco.' Praetor interea ne pulchrum se ac beatum putaret atque aliquid ipse sua sponte loqueretur, ei quoque carmen compositum est cum ceteris rebus absurdum tum vero in illo: 'Svis vtrisqve svperstitibvs praesentibvs istam viam dico; ite viam.' Praesto aderat sapiens ille qui inire viam doceret.

'Then thereupon I call you to join hands by law.' What answer to this so loquaciously litigious fellow the man from whom the claim was made did not have. The same jurisconsult passes over, in the manner of a Latin piper. 'From the place whence you have called me to join hands by law, from there I call you back,' he says. Meanwhile, lest the praetor think himself fine and blessed and say something of his own accord, a chant too was composed for him—absurd along with the rest of the things, but truly in this: 'With both their respective witnesses present, I declare that way; go the way.' Forthwith there stood by that wise man to teach how to enter upon the way.

'Redite viam.' Eodem duce redibant. Haec iam tum apud illos barbatos ridicula, credo, videbantur, homines, cum recte atque in loco constitissent, iuberi abire ut, unde abissent, eodem statim redirent. Isdem ineptiis fucata sunt illa omnia: 'Qvando te in ivre conspicio' et haec: 'Anne tv dicas qva ex cavsa vindicaveris?' Quae dum erant occulta, necessario ab eis qui ea tenebant petebantur; postea vero pervolgata atque in manibus iactata et excussa, inanissima prudentiae reperta sunt, fraudis autem et stultitiae plenis sima.

'Return the way.' With the same guide they would return. These things already then, among those bearded men, seemed ridiculous, I suppose: that men, when they had stood properly and in place, were ordered to go away so that, from where they had gone away, to the same place they should immediately return. All those formulas were bedaubed with the same ineptitudes: 'Since I behold you in court,' and this: 'Or will you say on what cause you have vindicated?' Which, while they were occult, were necessarily sought from those who held them; but afterwards, once thoroughly vulgated and bandied about in people’s hands and shaken out, they were found most empty of prudence, but most full of fraud and stupidity.

[27] Nam, cum permulta praeclare legibus essent constituta, ea iure consultorum ingeniis pleraque corrupta ac depravata sunt. Mulieres omnis propter infirmitatem consili maiores in tutorum potestate esse voluerunt; hi invenerunt genera tutorum quae potestate mulierum continerentur. Sacra interire illi noluerunt; horum ingenio senes ad coemptiones faciendas interimendorum sacrorum causa reperti sunt.

[27] For, although very many things had been excellently established by the laws, these were for the most part corrupted and depraved by the wits of the jurisconsults. The ancestors wished all women, on account of weakness of counsel, to be in the power of tutors; these men discovered kinds of tutors who were held under the power of the women. They did not want the sacred rites to perish; by the ingenuity of these, old men were found for making coemptions for the purpose of putting the sacred rites to death.

In omni denique iure civili aequitatem reliquerunt, verba ipsa tenuerunt, ut, quia in alicuius libris exempli causa id nomen invenerant, putarunt omnis mulieres quae coemptionem facerent 'Gaias' vocari. Iam illud mihi quidem mirum videri solet, tot homines, tam ingeniosos, post tot annos etiam nunc statuere non potuisse utrum 'diem tertium' an 'perendinum,' 'iudicem' an 'arbitrum,' 'rem' an 'litem' dici oporteret.

In short, in all civil law they left equity behind and clung to the very words, so that, because they had found that name in someone’s books as an example, they thought all women who perform coemption were called ‘Gaias.’ Already, indeed, it has always seemed strange to me that so many men, so ingenious, after so many years even now have not been able to decide whether one ought to say ‘diem tertium’ or ‘perendinum,’ ‘iudicem’ or ‘arbitrum,’ ‘rem’ or ‘litem.’

[28] Itaque, ut dixi, dignitas in ista scientia consularis numquam fuit, quae tota ex rebus fictis commenticiisque constaret, gratiae vero multo etiam minus. Quod enim omnibus patet et aeque promptum est mihi et adversario meo, id esse gratum nullo pacto potest. Itaque non modo benefici conlocandi spem sed etiam illud quod aliquamdiu fuit 'Licet consvlere?' iam perdidistis.

[28] Therefore, as I said, consular dignity was never in that science, which would consist wholly of fictitious and commentitious matters, and of favor indeed far less. For what lies open to all and is equally ready to me and to my adversary can in no way be a means of favor. Therefore you have now lost not only the hope of bestowing a benefit, but even that which for some time existed—'Is it permitted to consult?'

Sapiens existimari nemo potest in ea prudentia quae neque extra Romam usquam neque Romae rebus prolatis quicquam valet. Peritus ideo haberi nemo potest quod in eo quod sciunt omnes nullo modo possunt inter se discrepare. Difficilis autem res ideo non putatur quod et perpaucis et minime obscuris litteris continetur.

No one can be esteemed wise in that prudence which avails nothing either anywhere outside Rome or at Rome when matters are brought forward. For that reason no one can be held an expert in that in which, since all know it, they can in no way differ among themselves. And the thing is for that reason not thought difficult, because it is contained in very few and by no means obscure letters.

Itaque si mihi, homini vehementer occupato, stomachum moveritis, triduo me iuris consultum esse profitebor. Etenim quae de scripto aguntur, scripta sunt omnia, neque tamen quicquam tam anguste scriptum est quo ego non possim 'Qva de re agitvr' addere; quae consuluntur autem, minimo periculo respondentur. Si id quod oportet responderis, idem videare respondisse quod Servius; sin aliter, etiam controversum ius nosse et tractare videare.

Therefore, if you, to me—a man exceedingly occupied—stir my bile, I will, within three days, declare myself to be a jurisconsult. For the matters that are conducted “from the writing” are all written, nor, however, is anything so narrowly written that I cannot add “Qva de re agitvr”; but as for the things consulted about, they are answered with the least danger. If you answer what you ought, you seem to have answered the same as Servius; but if otherwise, you even seem to know and to handle controverted law.

[29] Quapropter non solum illa gloria militaris vestris formulis atque actionibus anteponenda est verum etiam dicendi consuetudo longe et multum isti vestrae exercitationi ad honorem antecellit. Itaque mihi videntur plerique initio multo hoc maluisse, post, cum id adsequi non potuissent, istuc potissimum sunt delapsi. Vt aiunt in Graecis artificibus eos auloedos esse qui citharoedi fieri non potuerint, sic nos videmus, qui oratores evadere non potuerint, eos ad iuris studium devenire.

[29] Wherefore not only is that military glory to be set before your formulas and actions, but even the practice of speaking far and away surpasses that exercise of yours in honor. Therefore most men seem to me at the outset to have greatly preferred this; afterward, when they could not attain it, they have slipped down especially to that. As they say among the Greek craftsmen, those are auloedi who could not become citharoedi; so we see that those who have not been able to turn out orators come down to the study of law.

Magnus dicendi labor, magna res, magna dignitas, summa autem gratia. Etenim a vobis salubritas quaedam, ab eis qui dicunt salus ipsa petitur. Deinde vestra responsa atque decreta et evertuntur saepe dicendo et sine defensione orationis firma esse non possunt.

Great is the labor of speaking, a great thing, great dignity, and the highest grace. For from you a certain salubrity is sought, but from those who speak, salvation itself is sought. Then your responses and decrees are often overturned by speaking, and without the defense of oration they cannot be firm.

In qua si satis profecissem, parcius de eius laude dicerem; nunc nihil de me dico, sed de eis qui in dicendo magni sunt aut fuerunt.

In which, if I had advanced enough, I would speak more sparingly of its praise; now I say nothing about myself, but about those who in speaking are or have been great.

[30] Duae sint artes <igitur> quae possint locare homines in amplissimo gradu dignitatis, una imperatoris, altera oratoris boni. Ab hoc enim pacis ornamenta retinentur, ab illo belli pericula repelluntur. Ceterae tamen virtutes ipsae per se multum valent, iustitia, fides, pudor, temperantia; quibus te, Servi, excellere omnes intellegunt.

[30] Let there be two arts <therefore> which can place men in the most ample grade of dignity: one of the general, the other of the good orator. By this latter, indeed, the ornaments of peace are retained; by that former, the dangers of war are repelled. The other virtues, however, themselves by themselves avail much—justice, faith, modesty, temperance—in which, Servius, all understand you to excel.

Sed nunc de studiis ad honorem appositis, non de insita cuiusque virtute disputo. Omnia ista nobis studia de manibus excutiuntur, simul atque aliqui motus novus bellicum canere coepit. Etenim, ut ait ingeniosus poeta et auctor valde bonus, 'proeliis promulgatis pellitur e medio' non solum ista vestra verbosa simulatio prudentiae sed etiam ipsa illa domina rerum, 'sapientia; vi geritur res, spernitur orator' non solum odiosus in dicendo ac loquax verum etiam 'bonus; horridus miles amatur,' vestrum vero studium totum iacet.

But now I am disputing about studies applied to honor, not about anyone’s inborn virtue. All those studies are shaken from our hands, as soon as some new commotion begins to sound the war-trumpet. For indeed, as a clever poet and a very good author says, 'with battles proclaimed, he is driven out from the midst'—not only that verbose simulation of prudence of yours, but even that very mistress of affairs, 'wisdom; the matter is conducted by force, the orator is spurned'—not only the hateful in speaking and loquacious, but even the 'good; the rough soldier is loved,' while your whole pursuit lies prostrate.

'Non ex iure manum consertum, sed mage ferro' inquit 'rem repetunt.' Quod si ita est, cedat, opinor, Sulpici, forum castris, otium militiae, stilus gladio, umbra soli; sit denique in civitate ea prima res propter quam ipsa est civitas omnium princeps.

'Not by law to join hands, but rather with iron,' he says, 'do they reclaim the thing.' If that is so, then let, I think, Sulpici, the forum yield to the camps, leisure to the soldiery, the stylus to the sword, shade to the sun; let there, finally, be in the state that as the first thing on account of which the state itself is chief of all.

[31] Verum haec Cato nimium nos nostris verbis magna facere demonstrat et oblitos esse bellum illud omne Mithridaticum cum mulierculis esse gestum. Quod ego longe secus existimo, iudices; deque eo pauca disseram; neque enim causa in hoc continetur. Nam si omnia bella quae cum Graecis gessimus contemnenda sunt, derideatur de rege Pyrrho triumphus M'. Curi, de Philippo T. Flaminini, de Aetolis M. Fulvi, de rege Perse L. Pauli, de Pseudophilippo Q. Metelli, de Corinthiis L. Mummi.

[31] But Cato demonstrates that we magnify these matters too much with our own words and have become oblivious that that whole Mithridatic war was conducted with womenfolk. Which I judge far otherwise, judges; and about this I will say a few things; for the cause is not contained in this. For if all the wars which we have waged with the Greeks are to be contemned, let the triumph over King Pyrrhus of M'. Curius be derided, over Philip of T. Flamininus, over the Aetolians of M. Fulvius, over King Perseus of L. Paulus, over the Pseudo-Philip of Q. Metellus, over the Corinthians of L. Mummius.

Sin haec bella gravissima victoriaeque eorum bellorum gratissimae fuerunt, cur Asiaticae nationes atque ille a te hostis contemnitur? Atqui ex veterum rerum monumentis vel maximum bellum populum Romanum cum Antiocho gessisse video; cuius belli victor L. Scipio aequa parta cum P. fratre gloria, quam laudem ille Africa oppressa cognomine ipso prae se ferebat, eandem hic sibi ex Asiae nomine adsumpsit.

But if these wars were most grave and the victories of those wars most welcome, why are the Asiatic nations and that enemy of yours held in contempt? And yet from the monuments of ancient affairs I see that the Roman people waged perhaps the very greatest war with Antiochus; the victor of which war, L. Scipio, having acquired equal glory with his brother P., the same renown which that man, Africa being subdued, bore before him in the very cognomen, this man assumed for himself from the name of Asia.

[32] Quo quidem in bello virtus enituit egregia M. Catonis, proavi tui; quo ille, cum esset, ut ego mihi statuo, talis qualem te esse video, numquam cum Scipione esset profectus, si cum mulierculis bellandum arbitraretur. Neque vero cum P. Africano senatus egisset ut legatus fratri proficisceretur, cum ipse paulo ante Hannibale ex Italia expulso, ex Africa eiecto, Carthagine oppressa maximis periculis rem publicam liberasset, nisi illud grave bellum et vehemens putaretur. Atqui si diligenter quid Mithridates potuerit et quid effecerit et qui vir fuerit consideraris, omnibus quibuscum populus Romanus bellum gessit hunc regem nimirum antepones.

[32] In that very war the eminent virtue of M. Cato, your great‑grandfather, shone forth; in which he—since he was, as I for my part determine, such as I see you to be—would never have set out with Scipio, if he had judged that there was to be warring with little women. Nor indeed would the Senate have dealt with P. Africanus that he should set out as legate to his brother, when he himself, a little before—Hannibal driven from Italy, cast out from Africa, Carthage oppressed—had freed the Republic from the greatest dangers, unless that were thought a grave and vehement war. And yet, if you carefully consider what Mithridates was able to do and what he accomplished and what a man he was, you will surely place this king before all with whom the Roman People has waged war.

Quem L. Sulla maximo et fortis simo exercitu, pugnax et acer et non rudis imperator, ut aliud nihil dicam, cum bello invectum totam in Asiam cum pace dimisit; quem L. Murena, pater huiusce, vehementissime vigilantissimeque vexatum repressum magna ex parte, non oppressum reliquit; qui rex sibi aliquot annis sumptis ad confirmandas rationes et copias belli tantum spe conatuque valuit ut se Oceanum cum Ponto, Sertori copias cum suis coniuncturum putaret.

whom L. Sulla, with the greatest and most stalwart army—a pugnacious, keen, and not unskilled imperator, to say nothing else—after he had been brought with war upon all Asia, dismissed with peace; whom L. Murena, the father of this man, having harried most vehemently and most vigilantly and having checked in great part, left not crushed; which king, after taking several years to strengthen the arrangements and forces of war, so prevailed in hope and endeavor that he thought he would join the Ocean with the Pontus, the forces of Sertorius with his own.

[33] Ad quod bellum duobus consulibus ita missis ut alter Mithridatem persequeretur, alter Bithyniam tueretur, alterius res et terra et mari calamitosae vehementer et opes regis et nomen auxerunt; L. Luculli vero res tantae exstiterunt ut neque maius bellum commemorari possit neque maiore consilio et virtute gestum. Nam cum totius impetus belli ad Cyzicenorum moenia constitisset eamque urbem sibi Mithridates Asiae ianuam fore putasset qua effracta et revolsa tota pateret provincia, perfecta a Lucullo haec sunt omnia ut urbs fidelissimorum sociorum defenderetur et omnes copiae regis diuturnitate obsessionis consumerentur. Quid?

[33] For which war, when two consuls had been sent in such a way that one should pursue Mithridates, the other should protect Bithynia, the affairs of the one, both on land and at sea, were very disastrous and greatly increased the king’s resources and name; but the deeds of L. Lucullus were so great that neither can a greater war be commemorated nor one conducted with greater counsel and virtue. For when the whole onrush of the war had halted at the walls of the Cyzicenes, and Mithridates had thought that that city would be to him the gateway of Asia—once that was broken and wrenched back, the whole province would lie open—all these things were brought to completion by Lucullus, to wit, that the city of our most faithful allies was defended and all the king’s forces were consumed by the long duration of the besiegement. What?

illam pugnam navalem ad Tenedum, cum contento cursu acerrimis ducibus hostium classis Italiam spe atque animis inflata peteret, mediocri certamine et parva dimicatione commissam arbitraris? Mitto proelia, praetereo oppugnationes oppidorum; expulsus regno tandem aliquando tantum tamen consilio atque auctoritate valuit ut se rege Armeniorum adiuncto novis opibus copiisque renovarit. Ac si mihi nunc de rebus gestis esset nostri exercitus imperatorisque dicendum, plurima et maxima proelia commemorare possem; sed non id agimus.

Do you judge that that naval battle at Tenedos, when at strained course and with the very keenest leaders the enemy fleet, inflated with hope and spirits, was making for Italy, was engaged with a mediocre contest and a slight skirmish? I omit the battles, I pass over the oppugnations of towns; expelled from his kingdom, at length, nevertheless by counsel and authority he prevailed so much that, with the king of the Armenians joined to him, he renewed himself with new resources and forces. And if it were now mine to speak about the achievements of our army and commander, I could commemorate very many and very great battles; but that is not what we are doing.

[34] Hoc dico: Si bellum hoc, si hic hostis, si ille rex contemnendus fuisset, neque tanta cura senatus et populus Romanus suscipiendum putasset neque tot annos gessisset neque tanta gloria L. <Lucullus>, neque vero eius belli conficiendum exitum tanto studio populus Romanus ad Cn. Pompeium detulisset. Cuius ex omnibus pugnis, quae sunt innumerabiles, vel acerrima mihi videtur illa quae cum rege commissa est et summa contentione pugnata. Qua ex pugna cum se ille eripuisset et Bosphorum confugisset quo exercitus adire non posset, etiam in extrema fortuna et fuga nomen tamen retinuit regium.

[34] This I say: If this war, if this enemy, if that king had been to be despised, neither would the Senate and the Roman People have thought it should be undertaken with such care, nor would they have waged it for so many years, nor would L. <Lucullus> have attained such great glory; nor indeed would the Roman People with such zeal have entrusted the bringing of that war to a close to Cn. Pompey. Of all his battles, which are innumerable, the very fiercest seems to me that which was engaged with the king and fought with the utmost contention. From which battle, when he had snatched himself away and fled for refuge to the Bosporus, where the army could not approach, even in utmost adversity and flight he nevertheless retained the royal name.

Itaque ipse Pompeius regno possesso ex omnibus oris ac notis sedibus hoste pulso tamen tantum in unius anima posuit ut, cum ipse omnia quae tenuerat, adierat, sperarat, victoria possideret, tamen non ante quam illum vita expulit bellum confectum iudicarit. Hunc tu hostem, Cato, contemnis quocum per tot annos tot proeliis tot imperatores bella gesserunt, cuius expulsi et eiecti vita tanti aestimata est ut morte eius nuntiata denique bellum confectum arbitrarentur? Hoc igitur in bello L. Murenam legatum fortissimi animi, summi consili, maximi laboris cognitum esse defendimus, et hanc eius operam non minus ad consulatum adipiscendum quam hanc nostram forensem industriam dignitatis habuisse.

And so Pompey himself, the kingdom having been possessed and the enemy driven from all coasts and familiar seats, nevertheless staked so much on the life of one man that, though by his victory he held possession of everything he had held, had approached, had hoped for, yet he did not judge the war finished before he had expelled that man from life. This enemy, Cato, do you despise—the man with whom for so many years, in so many battles, so many commanders waged wars, whose life, after he had been driven out and cast forth, was valued so highly that, when his death was announced, they finally considered the war concluded? We therefore maintain that in this war L. Murena, as legate, was recognized as of the bravest spirit, of the highest counsel, of the greatest labor, and that this service of his had no less dignity toward attaining the consulship than has this our forensic industry.

[35] At enim in praeturae petitione prior renuntiatus est Servius. Pergitisne vos tamquam ex syngrapha agere cum populo ut, quem locum semel honoris cuipiam dederit, eundem <in> reliquis honoribus debeat? Quod enim fretum, quem Euripum tot motus, tantas, tam varias habere putatis agitationes commutationesque fluctuum, quantas perturbationes et quantos aestus habet ratio comitiorum?

[35] But indeed, in the canvassing for the praetorship Servius was proclaimed first. Are you proceeding to deal with the people as though from a syngrapha, so that the place of honor which it has once given to someone, it should owe the same <in> the remaining honors? For what strait, what Euripus, do you suppose to have so many motions, such great, such various agitations and commutations of the waves, as the system of the elections has perturbations and tides?

Dies intermissus aut nox interposita saepe perturbat omnia, et totam opinionem parva non numquam commutat aura rumoris. Saepe etiam sine ulla aperta causa fit aliud atque existimaris, ut non numquam ita factum esse etiam populus admiretur, quasi vero non ipse fecerit.

An interrupted day or an interposed night often perturbs everything, and a small breeze of rumor sometimes changes the whole opinion. Often too, without any open cause, something else happens than you have supposed, so that sometimes even the people admire that it has been done thus, as though in truth they themselves had not done it.

[36] Nihil est incertius volgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum. Quis L. Philippum summo ingenio, opera, gratia, nobilitate a M. Herennio superari posse arbitratus est? quis Q. Catulum humanitate, sapientia, integritate antecellentem a Cn. Mallio?

[36] Nothing is more uncertain than the multitude, nothing more obscure than the will of human beings, nothing more deceitful than the entire rationale of the comitia (elections). Who supposed that Lucius Philippus, with the highest talent, effort, favor, and nobility, could be surpassed by Marcus Herennius? who [supposed that] Quintus Catulus, preeminent in humanity, wisdom, and integrity, could be surpassed by Gnaeus Mallius?

quis M. Scaurum, hominem gravissimum, civem egregium, fortissimum senatorem, a Q. Maximo? Non modo horum nihil ita fore putatum est sed, ne cum esset factum quidem, qua re ita factum esset intellegi potuit. Nam, ut tempestates saepe certo aliquo caeli signo commoventur, saepe improviso nulla ex certa ratione obscura aliqua ex causa concitantur, sic in hac comitiorum tempestate populari saepe intellegas quo signo commota sit, saepe ita obscura causa est ut casu excitata esse videatur.

who thought M. Scaurus, a most weighty man, an outstanding citizen, a most brave senator, could be overcome by Q. Maximus? Not only was nothing of these expected to be thus, but not even when it had happened could it be understood for what reason it had so happened. For, as tempests are often set in motion by some definite sign of the sky, often, unexpectedly, with no sure rationale, they are stirred by some obscure cause; so in this popular tempest of the comitia you often understand by what sign it has been moved, often the cause is so obscure that it seems to have been aroused by chance.

[37] Sed tamen si est reddenda ratio, duae res vehementer in praetura desideratae sunt quae ambae in consulatu multum Murenae profuerunt, una exspectatio muneris quae et rumore non nullo et studiis sermonibusque competitorum creverat, <altera> quod ei quos in provincia ac legatione omni et liberalitatis et virtutis suae testis habuerat nondum decesserant. Horum utrumque ei fortuna ad consulatus petitionem reservavit. Nam et L. Luculli exercitus qui ad triumphum convenerat idem comitiis L. Murenae praesto fuit, et munus amplissimum quod petitio praeturae desiderarat praetura restituit.

[37] But nevertheless, if an account is to be rendered, two things were greatly missed in the praetorship which both in the consulship much benefited Murena: one, the expectation of a public munus, which had grown both by no small rumor and by the zeal and conversations of his competitors; <the other>, that those whom in his province and in every legateship he had had as witnesses both of his liberality and of his virtue had not yet departed. Fortune reserved each of these for him for the petition of the consulship. For both the army of L. Lucullus, which had assembled for the triumph, was likewise on hand at the elections for L. Murena, and the most ample munus which the petition for the praetorship had wanted, the praetorship made good.

[38] Num tibi haec parva videntur adiumenta et subsidia consulatus, voluntas militum, quae<que> cum per se valet multitudine, cum apud suos gratia, tum vero in consule declarando multum etiam apud universum populum Romanum auctoritatis habet, suffragatio militaris? Imperatores enim comitiis consularibus, non verborum interpretes deliguntur. Qua re gravis est illa oratio: 'Me saucium recreavit, me praeda donavit; hoc duce castra cepimus, signa contulimus; numquam iste plus militi laboris imposuit quam sibi sumpsit, ipse cum fortis tum etiam felix.' Hoc quanti putas esse ad famam hominum ac voluntatem?

[38] Do these seem to you small aids and subsidies to the consulship—the goodwill of the soldiers and the military suffrage—which, both by itself is strong through its multitude and by its favor among its own, and indeed in declaring a consul has much authority even with the entire Roman People? For at the consular comitia commanders are chosen, not interpreters of words. Wherefore weighty is that testimony: “He restored me when wounded; he endowed me with booty; under this leader we took the camp, we closed in battle; never did that man impose more toil on the soldier than he took upon himself; he himself is not only brave but also fortunate.” How much do you think this counts for toward the reputation and goodwill of men?

Etenim, si tanta illis comitiis religio est ut adhuc semper omen valuerit praerogativum, quid mirum est in hoc felicitatis famam sermonemque valuisse?

For indeed, if in those comitia there is so great a religious scruple that up to now the prerogative omen has always prevailed, what wonder is it that in this case the fame and talk of felicity have prevailed?

Sed si haec leviora ducis quae sunt gravissima et hanc urbanam suffragationem militari anteponis, noli ludorum huius elegantiam et scaenae magnificentiam tam valde contemnere; quae huic admodum profuerunt. Nam quid ego dicam populum ac volgus imperitorum ludis magno opere delectari? Minus est mirandum.

But if you reckon lighter those things which are most weighty, and set this urban suffrage before the military, do not so greatly contemn the elegance of this man’s games and the magnificence of the stage; which have very much profited him. For why should I say that the people and the vulgar crowd of the unskilled are greatly delighted by the games? It is less to be wondered at.

Quamquam huic causae id satis est; sunt enim populi ac multitudinis comitia. Qua re, si populo ludorum magnificentia voluptati est, non est mirandum eam L. Murenae apud populum profuisse.

Although for this cause that is sufficient; for the assemblies are of the people and the multitude. Wherefore, if the magnificence of the games is a delight to the people, it is not to be wondered at that it has profited L. Murena among the people.

[39] Sed si nosmet ipsi qui et ab delectatione communi negotiis impedimur et in ipsa occupatione delectationes alias multas habere possumus, ludis tamen oblectamur et ducimur, quid tu admirere de multitudine indocta?

[39] But if we ourselves, who both are impeded by business from common delectation and, in the very occupation, can have many other delectations, are nevertheless entertained and led by the games, why should you marvel at the unlearned multitude?

[40] L. Otho, vir fortis, meus necessarius, equestri ordini restituit non solum dignitatem sed etiam voluptatem. Itaque lex haec quae ad ludos pertinet est omnium gratissima, quod honestissimo ordini cum splendore fructus quoque iucunditatis est restitutus. Qua re delectant homines, mihi crede, ludi, etiam illos qui dissimulant, non solum eos qui fatentur; quod ego in mea petitione sensi.

[40] L. Otho, a brave man, my close associate, restored to the equestrian order not only its dignity but also its pleasure. And so this law which pertains to the games is most pleasing of all, because to the most honorable order there has been restored, along with splendor, the fruit also of delight. Wherefore the games, believe me, delight men—even those who dissemble, not only those who confess it; which I perceived in my campaign.

Nam nos quoque habuimus scaenam competitricem. Quod si ego qui trinos ludos aedilis feceram tamen Antoni ludis commovebar, tibi qui casu nullos feceras nihil huius istam ipsam quam inrides argenteam scaenam adversatam putas?

For we too had a rival stage. And if I, who as aedile had produced triple games, was nevertheless moved by Antony’s games, do you—who by chance had produced none—think that that very silver stage which you mock was not set in opposition to you at all in this matter?

[41] Sed haec sane sint paria omnia, sit par forensis opera <militari>, militaris suffragatio urbanae, sit idem magnificentissimos et nullos umquam fecisse ludos; quid? in ipsa praetura nihilne existimas inter tuam et huius sortem interfuisse? Huius sors ea fuit quam omnes tui necessarii tibi optabamus, iuris dicundi; in qua gloriam conciliat magnitudo negoti, gratiam aequitatis largitio; qua in sorte sapiens praetor qualis hic fuit offensionem vitat aequabilitate decernendi, benivolentiam adiungit lenitate audiendi.

[41] But let all these things indeed be equal, let forensic work be on a par with the <military>, let military suffrage be equal to the urban; let it be the same to have given the most magnificent games and to have given none ever; what? do you think that in the praetorship itself nothing differed between your lot and this man’s? His lot was that which all your intimates were wishing for you: of pronouncing law (jurisdiction); in which the magnitude of the business procures glory, the largess of equity wins favor; in which lot a wise praetor, such as this man was, avoids offense by equability in deciding, and adds goodwill by lenity in hearing.

Egregia et ad consulatum apta provincia in qua laus aequitatis, integritatis, facilitatis ad extremum ludorum voluptate concluditur.

An outstanding province, and suited to the consulship, in which the praise of equity, integrity, and affability is, in the end, concluded with the delight of the games.

[42] Quid tua sors? Tristis, atrox, quaestio peculatus ex altera parte lacrimarum et squaloris, ex altera plena accusatorum atque indicum; cogendi iudices inviti, retinendi contra voluntatem; scriba damnatus, ordo totus alienus; Sullana gratificatio reprehensa, multi viri fortes et prope pars civitatis offensa est; lites severe aestimatae; cui placet obliviscitur, cui dolet meminit. Postremo tu in provinciam ire noluisti.

[42] What about your lot? Gloomy, atrocious—a quaestio of peculation—on the one side tears and squalor, on the other full of accusers and informers; judges to be compelled, unwilling, and to be retained against their will; a scribe condemned, the whole order estranged; the Sullan gratification censured; many brave men, and well-nigh a part of the commonwealth, took offense; lawsuits assessed severely; he whom it pleases forgets, he whom it pains remembers. Finally, you were unwilling to go into the province.

Non possum id in te reprehendere quod in me ipso et praetore et consule probavi. Sed tamen L. Murenae provincia multas bonas gratias cum optima existimatione attulit. Habuit proficiscens dilectum in Vmbria; dedit ei facultatem res publica liberalitatis, qua usus multas sibi tribus quae municipiis Vmbriae conficiuntur adiunxit.

I cannot reprehend in you that which I myself, both as praetor and as consul, approved. But nevertheless L. Murena’s province brought many good thanks with the best estimation. As he was setting out, he held a levy in Umbria; the commonwealth gave him the faculty of liberality, which he used to attach to himself many tribes that are constituted in the municipalities of Umbria.

Ipse autem in Gallia ut nostri homines desperatas iam pecunias exigerent aequitate diligentiaque perfecit. Tu interea Romae scilicet amicis praesto fuisti; fateor; sed tamen illud cogita non nullorum amicorum studia minui solere in eos a quibus provincias contemni intellegunt.

He himself, moreover, in Gaul effected, by equity and diligence, that our men exacted monies already despaired of. You meanwhile at Rome, of course, were at hand for your friends; I admit it; but still consider this: that the enthusiasms of not a few friends are wont to be diminished toward those by whom they understand the provinces to be despised.

[43] Et quoniam ostendi, iudices, parem dignitatem ad consulatus petitionem, disparem fortunam provincialium negotiorum in Murena atque in Sulpicio fuisse, dicam iam apertius in quo meus necessarius fuerit inferior, Servius, et ea dicam vobis audientibus amisso iam tempore quae ipsi soli re integra saepe dixi. Petere consulatum nescire te, Servi, persaepe tibi dixi; et in eis rebus ipsis quas te magno et forti animo et agere et dicere videbam tibi solitus sum dicere magis te fortem accusatorem mihi videri quam sapientem candidatum. Primum accusandi terrores et minae quibus tu cotidie uti solebas sunt fortis viri, sed et populi opinionem a spe adipiscendi avertunt et amicorum studia debilitant.

[43] And since I have shown, judges, an equal dignity for the petition of the consulship, but a disparate fortune of the provincial affairs in Murena and in Sulpicius, I will now say more openly in what my close associate, Servius, was inferior, and I will say—while you listen—now that the time is already lost, those things which, with the matter intact, I often said to him alone. That you do not know how to seek the consulship, Servius, I have very often told you; and in those very things which I saw you, with a great and brave spirit, both do and say, I was accustomed to tell you that you seemed to me more a brave accuser than a wise candidate. In the first place, the terrors and threats of accusing, which you were wont to use daily, are of a brave man, but they both turn the people’s opinion away from the hope of acquiring [it] and weaken the zeal of friends.

Nescio quo pacto semper hoc fit--neque in uno aut altero animadversum est sed iam in pluribus-- simul atque candidatus accusationem meditari visus est, ut honorem desperasse videatur.

I do not know by what manner this always happens--nor has it been observed in one or two but now in many--that as soon as a candidate is seen to be meditating an accusation, he seems to have despaired of the honor.

[44] Quid ergo? acceptam iniuriam persequi non placet? Immo vehementer placet; sed aliud tempus est petendi, aliud persequendi.

[44] What then? Does it not please to prosecute an injury received? On the contrary, it pleases vehemently; but one time is for seeking, another for prosecuting.

Petitorem ego, praesertim consulatus, magna spe, magno animo, magnis copiis et in forum et in campum deduci volo. Non placet mihi inquisitio candidati, praenuntia repulsae, non testium potius quam suffragatorum comparatio, non minae magis quam blanditiae, non denuntiatio potius quam persalutatio, praesertim cum iam hoc novo more omnes fere domos omnium concursent et ex voltu candidatorum coniecturam faciant quantum quisque animi et facultatis habere videatur.

I want a petitioner, especially for the consulship, to be escorted both into the forum and into the field with great hope, great spirit, and great resources. I do not approve an inquisition of a candidate, the forerunner of a repulse; nor the mustering of witnesses rather than of suffragators; nor menaces rather than blandishments; nor denunciation rather than general salutation—especially since now, by this new custom, they almost rush to the houses of nearly everyone, and from the countenance of the candidates they conjecture how much spirit and how much means each seems to have.

[45] 'Videsne tu illum tristem, demissum? iacet, diffidit, abiecit hastas.' Serpit hic rumor. 'Scis tu illum accusationem cogitare, inquirere in competitores, testis quaerere?

[45] 'Do you see that man sad, downcast? he lies, he has lost confidence, he has thrown down his spears.' This rumor creeps. 'Do you know that he is cogitating an accusation, inquiring into his competitors, seeking witnesses?

Alium fac iam, quoniam sibi hic ipse desperat.' Eius modi <rumoribus> candidatorum amici intimi debilitantur, studia deponunt; aut certam rem abiciunt aut suam operam et gratiam iudicio et accusationi reservant. Accedit eodem ut etiam ipse candidatus totum animum atque omnem curam operam diligentiamque suam in petitione non possit ponere. Adiungitur enim accusationis cogitatio, non parva res sed nimirum omnium maxima.

Make another now, since this man himself despairs of himself.' By rumors of this kind <rumors> the most intimate friends of candidates are debilitated, they lay down their zeal; they either throw away a sure thing or reserve their service and favor for the trial and the accusation. To the same effect it is added that the candidate himself cannot put his whole mind and all his care, effort, and diligence into the petition. For the thought of an accusation is joined, no small matter but assuredly the greatest of all.

Magnum est enim te comparare ea quibus possis hominem e civitate, praesertim non inopem neque infirmum, exturbare, qui et per se et per suos et vero etiam per alienos defendatur. Omnes enim ad pericula propulsanda concurrimus et qui non aperte inimici sumus etiam alienissimis in capitis periculis amicissimorum officia et studia praestamus.

For it is a great thing to prepare for yourself the means by which you can expel a man from the state—especially one not needy nor infirm—who is defended both by himself and by his own and indeed even by outsiders. For we all run together to repel dangers, and we who are not openly enemies, even for those most alien, in capital dangers render the offices and zeal of the dearest friends.

[46] Qua re ego expertus et petendi et defendendi et accusandi molestiam sic intellexi in petendo studium esse acerrimum, in defendendo officium, in accusando laborem. Itaque sic statuo fieri nullo modo posse ut idem accusationem et petitionem consulatus diligenter adornet atque instruat. Vnum sustinere pauci possunt, utrumque nemo.

[46] Wherefore I, having experienced the trouble of petitioning, defending, and accusing, have thus understood: in petitioning there is the keenest zeal; in defending, duty; in accusing, labor. And so I thus judge that it can in no way be brought about that the same man diligently adorn and equip both an accusation and a petition for the consulship. Few can sustain one; no one, both.

Tu cum te de curriculo petitionis deflexisses animumque ad accusandum transtulisses, existimasti te utrique negotio satis facere posse. Vehementer errasti. Quis enim dies fuit, postea quam in istam accusandi denuntiationem ingressus es, quem tu non totum in ista ratione consumpseris?

You, when you had swerved from the course of your petition and had transferred your mind to accusing, supposed that you could satisfy both undertakings. You were greatly mistaken. For what day was there, after you entered upon that denunciation to accuse, that you did not spend entirely on that plan?

Legem ambitus flagitasti, quae tibi non deerat; erat enim severissime scripta Calpurnia. Gestus est mos et voluntati et dignitati tuae. Sed tota illa lex accusationem tuam, si haberes nocentem reum, fortasse armasset; petitioni vero refragata est.

You demanded a law against ambitus, which was not lacking for you; for the Calpurnian was written most severely. Deference was shown to both your will and your dignity. But that whole law would perhaps have armed your accusation, if you had a guilty defendant; to your petition, however, it proved adverse.

[47] Poena gravior in plebem tua voce efflagitata est; commoti animi tenuiorum. Exsilium in nostrum ordinem; concessit senatus postulationi tuae, sed non libenter duriorem fortunae communi condicionem te auctore constituit. Morbi excusationi poena addita est; voluntas offensa multorum quibus aut contra valetudinis commodum laborandum est aut incommodo morbi etiam ceteri vitae fructus relinquendi.

[47] A heavier penalty upon the plebs was demanded by your voice; the spirits of the poorer sort were stirred. Exile has been introduced into our order; the senate conceded to your petition, but not gladly did it, with you as author, establish a harsher condition of fortune for the common lot. A penalty has been added to the excuse of sickness; the good will of many has been offended, for whom either it must be labored against the convenience of health, or by the discomfort of illness even the other fruits of life must be relinquished.

Quid ergo? haec quis tulit? Is qui auctoritati senatus, voluntati tuae paruit, denique is tulit cui minime proderant.

What then? Who carried these things? He who obeyed the authority of the Senate and your will; in fine, the very man to whom they profited least.

Illa <quidem> quae mea summa voluntate senatus frequens repudiavit mediocriter adversata tibi esse existimas? Confusionem suffragiorum flagitasti, ~praerogationum legis Maniliae~, aequationem gratiae, dignitatis, suffragiorum. Graviter homines honesti atque in suis vicinitatibus et municipiis gratiosi tulerunt a tali viro esse pugnatum ut omnes et dignitatis et gratiae gradus tollerentur.

Do you imagine that those measures <indeed> which, with my utmost willingness, a full senate repudiated were only moderately opposed to you? You demanded a confusion of the votes, ~the prerogatives of the Manilian law~, a leveling of favor, dignity, and votes. Respectable men, and those influential in their neighborhoods and municipalities, took it grievously that by such a man it was contended that all degrees of dignity and of favor be removed.

Idem editicios iudices esse voluisti, ut odia occulta civium quae tacitis nunc discordiis continentur in fortunas optimi cuiusque erumperent.

You likewise wished there to be judges appointed by edict, so that the hidden hatreds of the citizens, which are now contained by silent discords, might erupt upon the fortunes of each of the best men.

[48] Haec omnia tibi accusandi viam muniebant, adipiscendi obsaepiebant. Atque ex omnibus illa plaga est iniecta petitioni tuae non tacente me maxima, de qua ab homine ingeniosissimo et copiosissimo, <Q.> Hortensio, multa gravissime dicta sunt. Quo etiam mihi durior locus est dicendi datus ut, cum ante me et ille dixisset et vir summa dignitate et diligentia et facultate dicendi, M. Crassus, ego in extremo non partem aliquam agerem causae sed de tota re dicerem quod mihi videretur.

[48] All these things were paving for you the road of accusing, and were hedging round the road of acquiring. And of them all that blow was inflicted upon your petition—the greatest, I not keeping silent—about which many things were said most gravely by the most ingenious and most copious man, <Q.> Hortensius. Wherefore an even harder position for speaking has been given to me, since before me both he had spoken and also a man of the highest dignity, diligence, and faculty of speaking, M. Crassus, so that I, at the last, should not plead some part of the case, but should speak about the whole matter as it seemed to me.

Itaque in isdem rebus fere versor et quoad possum, iudices, occurro vestrae satietati. Sed tamen, Servi, quam te securim putas iniecisse petitioni tuae, cum populum Romanum in eum metum adduxisti ut pertimesceret ne consul Catilina fieret, dum tu accusationem comparares deposita atque abiecta petitione?

Therefore I am occupied with almost the same matters, and, so far as I can, judges, I head off your satiety. But yet, Servius, what a hatchet do you suppose you have hurled into your petition, when you brought the Roman people into such fear that they were thoroughly afraid lest Catiline be made consul, while you were preparing the accusation, your petition laid down and cast aside?

[49] Etenim te inquirere videbant, tristem ipsum, maestos amicos; observationes, testificationes, seductiones testium, secessiones subscriptorum animadvertebant, quibus rebus certe ipsi candidatorum <voltus> obscuriores videri solent; Catilinam interea alacrem atque laetum, stipatum choro iuventutis, vallatum indicibus atque sicariis, inflatum cum spe militum <tum> conlegae mei, quem ad modum dicebat ipse, promissis, circumfluentem colonorum Arretinorum et Faesulanorum exercitu; quam turbam dissimillimo ex genere distinguebant homines perculsi Sullani temporis calamitate. Voltus erat ipsius plenus furoris, oculi sceleris, sermo adrogantiae, sic ut ei iam exploratus et domi conditus consulatus videretur. Murenam contemnebat, Sulpicium accusatorem suum numerabat non competitorem; ei vim denuntiabat, rei publicae minabatur.

[49] For they saw you conducting inquiries, you yourself gloomy, your friends downcast; they noticed surveillances, testifications, seductions of witnesses, secessions of your subscribers—things by which, assuredly, even the faces of candidates are wont to seem more clouded; Catiline meanwhile brisk and glad, packed with a chorus of youth, walled about with informers and assassins, inflated both by the hope of the soldiers and, as he himself used to say, by the promises of my colleague, overflowing with an army of the colonists of Arretium and Faesulae; a rabble which men smitten by the calamity of Sulla’s time marked out as of a most dissimilar breed. His very visage was full of frenzy, his eyes of crime, his speech of arrogance, so that to him the consulship already seemed explored and laid up at home. He was scorning Murena, he was reckoning Sulpicius as his accuser, not his competitor; he was serving him notice of violence, he was threatening the commonwealth.

[50] Quibus rebus qui timor bonis omnibus iniectus sit quantaque desperatio rei publicae, si ille factus esset, nolite a me commoneri velle; vosmet ipsi vobiscum recordamini. Meministis enim, cum illius nefarii gladiatoris voces percrebruissent quas habuisse in contione domestica dicebatur, cum miserorum fidelem defensorem negasset inveniri posse nisi eum qui ipse miser esset; integrorum et fortunatorum promissis saucios et miseros credere non oportere; qua re qui consumpta replere, erepta reciperare vellent, spectarent quid ipse deberet, quid possideret, quid auderet; minime timidum et valde calamitosum esse oportere eum qui esset futurus dux et signifer calamitosorum.

[50] From these things—what fear was injected into all good men and how great a desperation for the commonwealth, if that man had been made, do not wish to be reminded by me; recall it yourselves with yourselves. For you remember, when the voices of that nefarious gladiator had spread far and wide, which he was said to have delivered in a domestic assembly, when he had denied that a faithful defender of the wretched could be found except one who himself was wretched; that the wounded and the wretched ought not to trust the promises of the unimpaired and the fortunate; wherefore those who wished to replenish what had been consumed, to recover what had been snatched away, should look at what he himself owed, what he possessed, what he dared; that the man who was going to be the leader and standard-bearer of the calamitous ought to be in no way timid and to be very calamitous.

[51] Tum igitur, his rebus auditis, meministis fieri senatus consultum referente me ne postero die comitia haberentur, ut de his rebus in senatu agere possemus. Itaque postridie frequenti senatu Catilinam excitavi atque eum de his rebus iussi, si quid vellet, quae ad me adlatae essent dicere. Atque ille, ut semper fuit apertissimus, non se purgavit sed indicavit atque induit.

[51] Then therefore, these matters having been heard, you remember that a senatorial decree was passed on my motion that on the next day the comitia (elections) should not be held, so that we might be able to deal with these matters in the senate. And so, on the following day, with a full senate, I summoned Catiline and ordered him, if he wished, to speak about these matters which had been brought to me. And he, as he was always most open, did not exculpate himself but indicated and assumed the guilt.

Tum enim dixit duo corpora esse rei publicae, unum debile infirmo capite, alterum firmum sine capite; huic, si ita de se meritum esset, caput se vivo non defuturum. Congemuit senatus frequens neque tamen satis severe pro rei indignitate decrevit; nam partim ideo fortes in decernendo non erant, quia nihil timebant, partim, quia <omnia>. Erupit e senatu triumphans gaudio quem omnino vivum illinc exire non oportuerat, praesertim cum idem ille in eodem ordine paucis diebus ante Catoni, fortissimo viro, iudicium minitanti ac denuntianti respondisset, si quod esset in suas fortunas incendium excitatum, id se non aqua sed ruina restincturum.

Then indeed he said that there were two bodies of the republic, one weak with a feeble head, the other strong without a head; to this latter, if it had thus deserved from him, a head would not be lacking while he lived. The Senate, in full session, groaned together, and yet did not decree severely enough for the indignity of the matter; for in part they were therefore not brave in decreeing, because they feared nothing, in part, because <everything>. He burst out of the Senate, triumphing with joy—he who by no means ought to have gone out from there alive—especially since that same man, in that same order a few days before, had replied to Cato, a most brave man, when he threatened and gave notice of judgment, that if any conflagration had been kindled against his fortunes, he would quench it not with water but with ruin.

[52] His tum rebus commotus et quod homines iam tum coniuratos cum gladiis in campum deduci a Catilina sciebam, descendi in campum cum firmissimo praesidio fortissimorum virorum et cum illa lata insignique lorica, non quae me tegeret--etenim sciebam Catilinam non latus aut ventrem sed caput et collum solere petere--verum ut omnes boni animadverterent et, cum in metu et periculo consulem viderent, id quod est factum, ad opem praesidiumque concurrerent. Itaque cum te, Servi, remissiorem in petendo putarent, Catilinam et spe et cupiditate inflammatum viderent, omnes qui illam ab re publica pestem depellere cupiebant ad Murenam se statim contulerunt.

[52] Then, moved by these matters, and because I knew that men already at that time conspired were being led with swords into the field by Catiline, I descended into the field with the firmest guard of the bravest men and with that broad and conspicuous cuirass, not that it might cover me—for indeed I knew that Catiline was wont to aim not at the side or the belly but at the head and neck—but so that all good men might take note and, when they saw the consul in fear and danger, as in fact happened, they might run together to aid and protection. And so, since they thought you, Servius, rather remiss in canvassing, and saw Catiline inflamed both by hope and by cupiditas, all who were eager to drive off that pest from the republic straightway betook themselves to Murena.

[53] Magna est autem comitiis consularibus repentina voluntatum inclinatio, praesertim cum incubuit ad virum bonum et multis aliis adiumentis petitionis ornatum. Qui cum honestissimo patre atque maioribus, modestissima adulescentia, clarissima legatione, praetura probata in iure, grata in munere, ornata in provincia petisset diligenter, et ita petisset ut neque minanti cederet neque cuiquam minaretur, huic mirandum est magno adiumento Catilinae subitam spem consulatus adipiscendi fuisse?

[53] Moreover, at the consular elections there is a great sudden inclination of wills, especially when it bears down in favor of a good man and one adorned with many other aids of the candidacy. He, since he was seeking diligently with a most honorable father and ancestors, a most modest youth, a most illustrious legation, a praetorship approved in law, agreeable in the office, distinguished in the province, and sought in such a way that he would neither yield to one threatening nor threaten anyone, is it to be wondered that for this man Catiline’s sudden hope of attaining the consulship was a great assistance?

[54] Nunc mihi tertius ille locus est relictus orationis, de ambitus criminibus, perpurgatus ab eis qui ante me dixerunt, a me, quoniam ita Murena voluit, retractandus; quo in loco <C.> Postumo, familiari meo, ornatissimo viro, de divisorum indiciis et de deprehensis pecuniis, adulescenti ingenioso et bono, Ser. Sulpicio, de equitum centuriis, M. Catoni, homini in omni virtute excellenti, de ipsius accusatione, de senatus consulto, de re publica respondebo.

[54] Now that third portion of the oration has been left to me, concerning the charges of ambitus (electoral bribery), thoroughly cleansed by those who spoke before me, but to be taken up again by me, since Murena so wished; in which place I shall respond to <C.> Postumus, my familiar, a most distinguished man, about the testimony of the divisores (distributors) and about the moneys caught in the act; to a clever and good young man, Servius Sulpicius, about the centuries of the equites; to M. Cato, a man outstanding in every virtue, about his own accusation, about the senatus consultum, about the republic.

[55] Sed pauca quae meum animum repente moverunt prius de L. Murenae fortuna conquerar. Nam cum saepe antea, iudices, et ex aliorum miseriis et ex meis curis laboribusque cotidianis fortunatos eos homines iudicarem qui remoti a studiis ambitionis otium ac tranquillitatem vitae secuti sunt, tum vero in his L. Murenae tantis tamque improvisis periculis ita sum animo adfectus ut non queam satis neque communem omnium nostrum condicionem neque huius eventum fortunamque miserari. Qui primum, dum ex honoribus continuis familiae maiorumque suorum unum ascendere gradum dignitatis conatus est, venit in periculum ne et ea quae <ei> relicta, et haec quae ab ipso parta sunt amittat, deinde propter studium novae laudis etiam in veteris fortunae discrimen adducitur.

[55] But first I will lament a few things which suddenly moved my mind about the fortune of L. Murena. For whereas often before, judges, both from the miseries of others and from my own daily cares and labors, I used to judge those men fortunate who, removed from the pursuits of ambition, have followed leisure and the tranquility of life, then indeed, in these so great and so unforeseen dangers of L. Murena, I am so affected in spirit that I cannot sufficiently lament either the common condition of us all or the outcome and fortune of this man. He, first, while he was trying to ascend a single step of dignity from the continuous honors of his family and ancestors, has come into danger lest he lose both those things which were left to him and those which have been won by himself; then, on account of zeal for new praise, he is even brought into jeopardy of his former fortune.

[56] Quae cum sunt gravia, iudices, tum illud acerbissimum est quod habet eos accusatores, non qui odio inimicitiarum ad accusandum, sed qui studio accusandi ad inimicitias descenderint. Nam ut omittam Servium Sulpicium quem intellego non iniuria L. Murenae sed honoris contentione permotum, accusat paternus amicus, C. Postumus, vetus, ut ait ipse, vicinus ac necessarius, qui necessitudinis causas compluris protulit, simultatis nullam commemorare potuit. Accusat Ser.

[56] Although these things are grave, judges, yet this is the most bitter thing: that it has as accusers not those who have come to accusing by the hatred of enmities, but those who have descended into enmities by a zeal for accusing. For, to pass over Servius Sulpicius, whom I understand to have been moved not by an injury to L. Murena but by a contention for honor, a paternal friend accuses, Gaius Postumus, an old, as he himself says, neighbor and intimate associate, who brought forward several causes of connection, but could recount none of hostility. Ser. accuses.

Sulpicius, sodalis filius, cuius ingenio paterni omnes necessarii munitiores esse debebant. Accusat M. Cato qui cum a Murena nulla re umquam alienus fuit, tum ea condicione nobis erat in hac civitate natus ut eius opes, ut ingenium praesidio multis etiam alienis, exitio vix cuiquam inimico esse deberet.

Sulpicius, the son of a sodalis, by whose talent all his father’s intimates ought to have been more fortified. Marcus Cato prosecutes, who, since he was never at any time alienated from Murena in any matter, was yet born to us in this commonwealth under such a condition that his resources—his very talent—ought to be a protection to many, even to outsiders, and scarcely a destruction to anyone as an enemy.

[57] Respondebo igitur Postumo primum qui nescio quo pacto mihi videtur praetorius candidatus in consularem quasi desultorius in quadrigarum curriculum incurrere. Cuius competitores si nihil deliquerunt, dignitati eorum concessit, cum petere destitit; sin autem eorum aliquis largitus est, expetendus amicus est qui alienam potius iniuriam quam suam persequatur. De Postvmi criminibvs, de Servi advlescentis.

[57] I will answer, then, Postumus first, who by I know not what trick seems to me, a praetorian candidate, to run into the consular course as a desultor into the racecourse of the quadrigae. If his competitors have committed no delinquency, he conceded to their dignity when he desisted from seeking office; but if, on the other hand, any one of them has distributed largess, a friend is to be sought who pursues another’s injury rather than his own. On the charges of Postumus, on the young Servius.

[58] Venio nunc ad M. Catonem, quod est fundamentum ac robur totius accusationis; qui tamen ita gravis est accusator et vehemens ut multo magis eius auctoritatem quam criminationem pertimescam. In quo ego accusatore, iudices, primum illud deprecabor ne quid L. Murenae dignitas illius, ne quid exspectatio tribunatus, ne quid totius vitae splendor et gravitas noceat, denique ne ea soli huic obsint bona M. Catonis quae ille adeptus est ut multis prodesse possit. Bis consul fuerat P. Africanus et duos terrores huius imperi, Carthaginem Numantiamque, deleverat cum accusavit L. Cottam.

[58] I come now to M. Cato, which is the foundation and the robustness of the whole accusation; who nevertheless is so weighty and vehement an accuser that I much more fear his authority than his crimination. In dealing with this accuser, judges, I will first deprecate this: that nothing of that man’s dignity harm L. Murena, nor the expectation of the tribunate, nor the splendor and gravity of his whole life; finally, that the goods of M. Cato, which he has acquired so that he may be able to profit many, not be harmful to this one man alone. P. Africanus had been consul twice and had erased the two terrors of this empire, Carthage and Numantia, when he prosecuted L. Cotta.

Erat in <eo> summa eloquentia, summa fides, summa integritas, auctoritas tanta quanta in imperio populi Romani quod illius opera tenebatur. Saepe hoc maiores natu dicere audivi, hanc accusatoris eximiam vim <et> dignitatem plurimum L. Cottae profuisse. Noluerunt sapientissimi homines qui tum rem illam iudicabant ita quemquam cadere in iudicio ut nimiis adversarii viribus abiectus videretur.

In him there was consummate eloquence, consummate fidelity, consummate integrity, authority as great as that in the empire of the Roman people, which was held together by his agency. I have often heard the elders say this: that this exceptional force and dignity of the accuser profited L. Cotta very greatly. The wisest men who were then judging that matter did not wish anyone to fall in a trial in such a way that he might seem cast down by the excessive strength of his adversary.

[59] Quid? Ser. Galbam--nam traditum memoriae <est>--nonne proavo tuo, fortissimo atque florentissimo viro, M. Catoni, incumbenti ad eius perniciem populus Romanus eripuit?

[59] What? Did not the Roman people snatch Servius Galba—for it is recorded in tradition—from your great‑grandfather, Marcus Cato, a most valiant and most flourishing man, as he was pressing toward his ruin?

Semper in hac civitate nimis magnis accusatorum opibus et populus universus et sapientes ac multum in posterum prospicientes iudices restiterunt. Nolo accusator in iudicium potentiam adferat, non vim maiorem aliquam, non auctoritatem excellentem, non nimiam gratiam. Valeant haec omnia ad salutem innocentium, ad opem impotentium, ad auxilium calamitosorum, in periculo vero et in pernicie civium repudientur.

Always in this commonwealth, both the entire people and the wise judges who look far into the future have resisted the overly great resources of accusers. I do not wish the accuser to bring power into the court—no superior force, no preeminent authority, no excessive favor. Let all these things avail for the safety of the innocent, for the aid of the powerless, for the help of the calamity‑stricken; but in the peril and in the ruin of citizens let them be repudiated.

[60] Nam si quis hoc forte dicet, Catonem descensurum ad accusandum non fuisse, nisi prius de causa iudicasset, iniquam legem, iudices, et miseram condicionem instituet periculis hominum, si existimabit iudicium accusatoris in reum pro aliquo praeiudicio valere oportere. Ego tuum consilium, Cato, propter singulare animi mei de tua virtute iudicium vituperare <non possum;> non nulla forsitan conformare et leviter emendare possim. 'Non multa peccas,' inquit ille fortissimo viro senior magister, 'sed peccas; te regere possum.' At ego non te; verissime dixerim peccare te nihil neque ulla in re te esse huius modi ut corrigendus potius quam leviter inflectendus esse videare.

[60] For if anyone perchance will say this, that Cato would not have descended to accuse unless he had first judged about the case, he will establish, judges, an unjust law and a wretched condition for the perils of men, if he supposes that an accuser’s judgment against a defendant ought to have force as some prejudgment. I cannot censure your counsel, Cato, because of the singular judgment of my mind concerning your virtue <non possum;>; I could perhaps shape some things and lightly amend them. “You do not err in many things,” says that older master to a most brave man, “but you do err; I can guide you.” But I—not so to you; I would most truly say that you err in nothing, nor in any matter are you of such a sort that you should seem to be corrected rather than lightly inflected.

Finxit enim te ipsa natura ad honestatem, gravitatem, temperantiam, magnitudinem animi, iustitiam, ad omnis denique virtutes magnum hominem et excelsum. Accessit istuc doctrina non moderata nec mitis sed, ut mihi videtur, paulo asperior et durior quam aut veritas aut natura patitur.

For nature herself fashioned you for honorableness, gravity, temperance, greatness of mind, justice—for all the virtues, in fine—a great and lofty man. To that there was added a doctrine not moderate nor mild but, as it seems to me, a little harsher and harder than either truth or nature permits.

[61] Et quoniam non est nobis haec oratio habenda aut in imperita multitudine aut in aliquo conventu agrestium, audacius paulo de studiis humanitatis quae et mihi et vobis nota et iucunda sunt disputabo. In M. Catone, iudices, haec bona quae videmus divina et egregia ipsius scitote esse propria; quae non numquam requirimus, ea sunt omnia non a natura verum a magistro. Fuit enim quidam summo ingenio vir, Zeno, cuius inventorum aemuli Stoici nominantur.

[61] And since this oration is not to be delivered either before an unskilled multitude or in some assembly of rustics, I will a little more audaciously discourse about the studies of humanity, which are known and pleasing both to me and to you. In M. Cato, judges, know that these goods which we see—divine and outstanding—are his own proper endowments; those which we sometimes find wanting, all these are not from nature but from a master. For there was a certain man of the highest ingenium, Zeno, the imitators of whose inventions are named Stoics.

Huius sententiae sunt et praecepta eius modi. Sapientem gratia numquam moveri, numquam cuiusquam delicto ignoscere; neminem misericordem esse nisi stultum et levem; viri non esse neque exorari neque placari; solos sapientes esse, si distortissimi sint, formosos, si mendicissimi, divites, si servitutem serviant, reges; nos autem qui sapientes non sumus fugitivos, exsules, hostis, insanos denique esse dicunt; omnia peccata esse paria; omne delictum scelus esse nefarium, nec minus delinquere eum qui gallum gallinaceum, cum opus non fuerit, quam eum qui patrem suffocaverit; sapientem nihil opinari, nullius rei paenitere, nulla in re falli, sententiam mutare numquam.

To this doctrine belong precepts of such a sort: that the wise man is never moved by favor, never pardons anyone’s delinquency; that no one is merciful save a foolish and light man; that it is not a man’s part either to be entreated or to be appeased; that only the wise, if most distorted, are handsome, if most beggarly, rich, if they serve in slavery, kings; but that we who are not wise are, they say, runaways, exiles, enemies, in fine insane; that all sins are on a par; that every offense is a nefarious crime, and that he commits no less a delinquency who has killed a barnyard cock when there was no need, than he who has strangled his father; that the wise man opines nothing, repents of nothing, is deceived in nothing, never changes his opinion.

[62] Hoc homo ingeniosissimus, M. Cato, auctoribus eruditissimis inductus adripuit, neque disputandi causa, ut magna pars, sed ita vivendi. Petunt aliquid publicani; cave <ne> quicquam habeat momenti gratia. Supplices aliqui veniunt miseri et calamitosi; sceleratus et nefarius fueris, si quicquam misericordia adductus feceris.

[62] This a most ingenious man, M. Cato, induced by the most erudite authorities, seized upon, not for the sake of disputation, as the greater part do, but for living thus. The tax-farmers ask for something; beware <ne> favor have any weight at all. Some suppliants come, wretched and calamitous; you would be criminal and nefarious, if you should do anything, led by mercy.

Fatetur aliquis se peccasse et sui delicti veniam petit; 'nefarium est facinus ignoscere.' At leve delictum est. 'Omnia peccata sunt paria.' Dixisti quippiam: 'fixum et statutum est.' Non re ductus es sed opinione; 'sapiens nihil opinatur.' Errasti aliqua in re; male dici putat. Hac ex disciplina nobis illa sunt: 'Dixi in senatu me nomen consularis candidati delaturum.' Iratus dixisti.

Someone confesses that he has sinned and asks pardon for his offense; 'to forgive is a nefarious crime.' But the offense is light. 'All sins are equal.' You said something: 'it is fixed and established.' You were led not by the thing itself but by opinion; 'the wise man holds no opinions.' You have erred in some matter; he thinks it is ill-spoken to say so. From this discipline we have these: 'I said in the senate that I would lay an information against the name of a consular candidate.' You said it in anger.

'Numquam' inquit 'sapiens irascitur.' At temporis causa. 'Improbi' inquit 'hominis <est> mendacio fallere; mutare sententiam turpe est, exorari scelus, misereri flagitium.'

'Never,' he says, 'does the wise man grow angry.' But for the sake of the time. 'It,' he says, 'is the part of a wicked man to deceive by mendacity; to change one’s opinion is base, to be prevailed upon a crime, to feel pity a flagitious shame.'

[63] Nostri autem illi--fatebor enim, Cato, me quoque in adulescentia diffisum ingenio meo quaesisse adiumenta doctrinae--nostri, inquam, illi a Platone et Aristotele, moderati homines et temperati, aiunt apud sapientem valere aliquando gratiam; viri boni esse misereri; distincta genera esse delictorum et disparis poenas; esse apud hominem constantem ignoscendi locum; ipsum sapientem saepe aliquid opinari quod nesciat, irasci non numquam, exorari eundem et placari, quod dixerit interdum, si ita rectius sit, mutare, de sententia decedere aliquando; omnis virtutes mediocritate quadam esse moderatas.

[63] But those of ours—for I will confess, Cato, that I also in adolescence, diffident of my own talent, sought aids of doctrine—our men, I say, from Plato and Aristotle, moderate and temperate men, say that with the wise man favor sometimes has weight; that it is the mark of a good man to have mercy; that the kinds of delicts are distinct and the penalties disparate; that with a constant man there is room for forgiving; that the wise man himself often opines something which he does not know, is sometimes angry, is the same man to be prevailed upon and appeased, that what he has said he sometimes, if thus it be more right, changes, that he sometimes departs from his opinion; that all the virtues are moderated by a certain mediocrity.

[64] Hos ad magistros si qua te fortuna, Cato, cum ista natura detulisset, non tu quidem vir melior esses nec fortior nec temperantior nec iustior--neque enim esse potes--sed paulo ad lenitatem propensior. Non accusares nullis adductus inimicitiis, nulla lacessitus iniuria, pudentissimum hominem summa dignitate atque honestate praeditum; putares, cum in eiusdem anni custodia te atque L. Murenam fortuna posuisset, aliquo te cum hoc rei publicae vinculo esse coniunctum; quod atrociter in senatu dixisti, aut non dixisses aut, si potuisses, mitiorem in partem interpretarere.

[64] If by any fortune, Cato, that nature of yours had been conveyed to these teachers, you indeed would not be a better man, nor braver, nor more temperate, nor more just—for you cannot be—but a little more inclined to lenity. You would not, led by no enmities and provoked by no injury, accuse a most modest man endowed with the highest dignity and honesty; you would think, since fortune had placed you and L. Murena in the guardianship of the same year, that you were joined to this man by some bond of the commonwealth; what you said harshly in the senate, either you would not have said, or, if you could, you would interpret in the milder sense.

[65] Ac te ipsum, quantum ego opinione auguror, nunc et animi quodam impetu concitatum et vi naturae atque ingeni elatum et recentibus praeceptorum studiis flagrantem iam usus flectet, dies leniet, aetas mitigabit. Etenim isti ipsi mihi videntur vestri praeceptores et virtutis magistri finis officiorum paulo longius quam natura vellet protulisse ut, cum ad ultimum animo contendissemus, ibi tamen ubi oporteret consisteremus. 'Nihil ignoveris.' Immo aliquid, non omnia.

[65] And you yourself, so far as I augur by opinion, though now stirred by a certain impetus of spirit and borne aloft by the force of nature and of genius and blazing with the recent studies of precepts, practice will bend you, the day will soothe, age will mitigate. For indeed those very teachers of yours and masters of virtue seem to me to have pushed the bounds of duties a little farther than nature would have wished, so that, when we had strained our mind to the uttermost, yet there we might take our stand where it was fitting. 'Pardon nothing.' Nay rather, pardon something, not everything.

'Nihil gratiae causa feceris.' Immo resistito gratiae, cum officium et fides postulabit. 'Misericordia commotus ne sis.' Etiam, in dissolvenda severitate; sed tamen est laus aliqua humanitatis. 'In sententia permaneto.'

'Do nothing for the sake of favor.' Nay rather, resist favor, when duty and good faith will demand. 'Do not be moved by mercy.' Yes, in the relaxing of severity; yet nevertheless there is some praise of humanity. 'Persevere in your opinion.'

[66] Vero, nisi sententiam sententia alia vicerit melior. Huiusce modi Scipio ille fuit quem non paenitebat facere idem quod tu, habere eruditissimum hominem Panaetium domi; cuius oratione et praeceptis, quamquam erant eadem ista quae te delectant, tamen asperior non est factus sed, ut accepi a senibus, lenissimus. Quis vero C. Laelio comior <fuit>, quis iucundior eodem ex studio isto, quis illo gravior, sapientior?

[66] Indeed—unless one opinion be overcome by another, better one. Such a man was that Scipio who did not repent of doing the same as you: of having at home the most erudite man, Panaetius; by whose oration and precepts, although they were those same things which delight you, nevertheless he was not made more severe but, as I have received from elders, most lenient. Who indeed <was> more affable than Gaius Laelius, who more agreeable from that same pursuit, who more grave, more sapient than he?

Possum de L. Philo, de C. Gallo dicere haec eadem, sed te domum iam deducam tuam. Quemquamne existimas Catone, proavo tuo, commodiorem, communiorem, moderatiorem fuisse ad omnem rationem humanitatis? De cuius praestanti virtute cum vere graviterque diceres, domesticum te habere dixisti exemplum ad imitandum.

I can say these same things about L. Philus and about C. Gallus, but I will now conduct you home, to your own house. Do you think anyone was, than Cato, your great-grandfather, more accommodating, more sociable, more moderate for every reckoning of humanity? Of whose outstanding virtue, when you spoke truly and gravely, you said that you had a domestic example for imitation.

Est illud quidem exemplum tibi propositum domi, sed tamen naturae similitudo illius ad te magis qui ab illo ortus es quam ad unum quemque nostrum pervenire potuit, ad imitandum vero tam mihi propositum exemplar illud est quam tibi. Sed si illius comitatem et facilitatem tuae gravitati severitatique asperseris, non ista quidem erunt meliora, quae nunc sunt optima, sed certe condita iucundius.

That example indeed is set before you at home; yet the similarity of his nature could reach you—who are sprung from him—more than each one of us; for imitation, however, that exemplar is set before me as much as for you. But if you sprinkle his comity and facility upon your gravity and severity, these things will not indeed be better—for they are now the best—but certainly seasoned more pleasantly.

[67] Qua re, ut ad id quod institui revertar, tolle mihi e causa nomen Catonis, remove vim, praetermitte auctoritatem quae in iudiciis aut nihil valere aut ad salutem debet valere, congredere mecum criminibus ipsis. Quid accusas, Cato, quid adfers ad iudicium, quid arguis? Ambitum accusas; non defendo.

[67] Wherefore, that I may return to that which I have undertaken, remove for me from the case the name of Cato, remove the force, pass over the authority which in judgments ought either to avail nothing or to avail for salvation; contend with me on the charges themselves. What do you accuse, Cato, what do you bring into judgment, what do you allege? You accuse electoral bribery; I do not defend it.

Me reprehendis, quod idem defendam quod lege punierim. Punivi ambitum, non innocentiam; ambitum vero ipsum vel tecum accusabo, si voles. Dixisti senatus consultum me referente esse factum, si mercede obviam candidatis issent, si conducti sectarentur, si gladiatoribus volgo locus tributim et item prandia si volgo essent data, contra legem Calpurniam factum videri.

You censure me because I defend the very thing which I punished by law. I punished ambitus—electoral bribery—not innocence; indeed I will even prosecute ambitus itself along with you, if you wish. You said that, on my motion, a senatorial decree was passed, that, if men had gone to meet the candidates for pay, if hirelings had followed them, if for gladiatorial shows seats had been distributed to the populace by tribes, and likewise if luncheons had been given to the crowd, it was to be judged an act done against the Calpurnian law.

Ergo ita senatus iudicat, contra legem facta haec videri, si facta sint; decernit quod nihil opus est, dum candidatis morem gerit. Nam factum sit necne vehementer quaeritur; sin factum sit, quin contra legem sit dubitare nemo potest.

Therefore the senate so judges: that these things appear to have been done contrary to the law, if they have been done; it decrees what there is no need of, while indulging the candidates. For whether it was done or not is vehemently inquired; but if it was done, no one can doubt that it is against the law.

[68] Est igitur ridiculum, quod est dubium, id relinquere incertum, quod nemini dubium potest esse, id iudicare. Atque id decernitur omnibus postulantibus candidatis, ut ex senatus consulto neque cuius intersit, neque contra quem sit intellegi possit. Qua re doce ab L. Murena illa esse commissa; tum egomet tibi contra legem commissa esse concedam.

[68] It is therefore ridiculous to leave as uncertain what is in doubt, and to judge what can be doubtful to no one. And this is decreed, with all the candidates petitioning, such that from the senatorial decree it can be understood neither whose interest is involved nor against whom it is. Wherefore, show that those things were committed by L. Murena; then I myself will concede to you that they were committed against the law.

'Multi obviam prodierunt de provincia decedenti.' Consulatum petenti solet fieri; eccui autem non proditur revertenti? 'Quae fuit ista multitudo?' Primum, si tibi istam rationem non possim reddere, quid habet admirationis tali viro advenienti, candidato consulari, obviam prodisse multos? quod nisi esset factum, magis mirandum videretur.

'Many went out to meet him as he was departing from the province.' It is accustomed to happen to one seeking the consulship; but to whom, indeed, is it not gone out to meet when returning? 'What was that multitude?' First, even if I could not render that account to you, what has there of admiration that many went out to meet such a man arriving, a consular candidate? which, unless it had been done, would seem more to be wondered at.

[69] Quid? si etiam illud addam quod a consuetudine non abhorret, rogatos esse multos, num aut criminosum sit aut mirandum, qua in civitate rogati infimorum hominum filios prope de nocte ex ultima saepe urbe deductum venire soleamus, in ea non esse gravatos homines prodire hora tertia in campum Martium, praesertim talis viri nomine rogatos? Quid?

[69] What? If I should also add this, which does not depart from custom—that many were solicited—whether it is either criminal or to be wondered at, in a city where, when solicited, we are accustomed to have the sons of the lowest men brought down and to come almost by night from the farthest part of the city, that in that same city men were not burdened to go forth at the third hour into the Campus Martius, especially when solicited by the name of such a man? What?

si omnes societates venerunt quarum ex numero multi sedent iudices; quid? si multi homines nostri ordinis honestissimi; quid? si illa officiosissima quae neminem patitur non honeste in urbem introire tota natio candidatorum, si denique ipse accusator noster Postumus obviam cum bene magna caterva sua venit, quid habet ista multitudo admirationis?

What? Suppose all the associations came, from whose number many sit as judges; what? Suppose many men of our order, most honorable; what? Suppose that most officious whole nation of candidates, which allows no one to enter the city otherwise than honorably; if, finally, our accuser himself, Postumus, came to meet us with a very large troop of his own—what element of wonder does that multitude have?

Omitto clientis, vicinos, tribulis, exercitum totum Luculli qui ad triumphum per eos dies venerat; hoc dico, frequentiam in isto officio gratuitam non modo dignitati nullius umquam sed ne voluntati quidem defuisse.

I omit the clients, the neighbors, the fellow-tribesmen, the whole army of Lucullus, which had come for the triumph during those days; this I say: a gratuitous attendance in that duty has been lacking not only to the dignity of no one ever, but not even to anyone’s will.

[70] At sectabantur multi. Doce mercede; concedam esse crimen. Hoc quidem remoto quid reprendis?

[70] But many were following. Prove it was for a fee; I will concede it to be a crime. With this, indeed, set aside, what do you reprehend?

'Quid opus est' inquit 'sectatoribus?' A me tu id quaeris, quid opus sit eo quo semper usi sumus? Homines tenues unum habent in nostrum ordinem aut promerendi aut referendi benefici locum, hanc in nostris petitionibus operam atque adsectationem. Neque enim fieri potest neque postulandum est a nobis aut ab equitibus Romanis ut suos necessarios candidatos adsectentur totos dies; a quibus si domus nostra celebratur, si interdum ad forum deducimur, si uno basilicae spatio honestamur, diligenter observari videmur et coli; tenuiorum amicorum et non occupatorum est ista adsiduitas, quorum copia bonis viris et beneficis deesse non solet.

'What need is there,' he says, 'of followers?' Do you ask me what need there is of that which we have always used? Men of slender means have one place, in regard to our order, either for earning or for repaying a benefice: this service and adsectation in our candidacies. For it neither can be done nor ought it to be demanded of us or of the Roman equites that they attend their intimates who are candidates the whole day; if by them our house is thronged, if we are sometimes escorted to the forum, if we are honored for the span of a single basilica, we seem to be carefully observed and cultivated; that assiduity belongs to poorer friends and to the unoccupied, a supply of whom is not wont to be lacking to good and beneficent men.

[71] Noli igitur eripere hunc inferiori generi hominum fructum offici, Cato; sine eos qui omnia a nobis sperant habere ipsos quoque aliquid quod nobis tribuere possint. Si nihil erit praeter ipsorum suffragium, tenues, etsi suffragantur, nil valent gratia. Ipsi denique, ut solent loqui, non dicere pro nobis, non spondere, non vocare domum suam possunt.

[71] Do not, therefore, snatch away from the inferior order of men this fruit of duty, Cato; allow those who hope for everything from us to have themselves also something which they can bestow upon us. If there is nothing besides their own suffrage, the lowly, even if they cast their vote, avail nothing in favor. They themselves, finally, as they are wont to say, cannot speak on our behalf, cannot stand surety, cannot invite us to their house.

Atque haec a nobis petunt omnia neque ulla re alia quae a nobis consequuntur nisi opera sua compensari putant posse. Itaque et legi Fabiae quae est de numero sectatorum, et senatus consulto quod est L. Caesare consule factum restiterunt. Nulla est enim poena quae possit observantiam tenuiorum ab hoc vetere instituto officiorum excludere.

And they ask all these things from us, nor do they think that the things which they obtain from us can be compensated by any other thing except by their own exertion. Therefore they resisted both the Lex Fabia, which concerns the number of followers, and the senatus consultum which was enacted with L. Caesar as consul. For there is no penalty which can exclude the observance of the poor from this old institute of duties.

[72] At spectacula sunt tributim data et ad prandium volgo vocati. Etsi hoc factum a Murena omnino, iudices, non est, ab eius amicis autem more et modo factum est, tamen admonitus re ipsa recordor quantum hae conquestiones in senatu habitae punctorum nobis, Servi, detraxerint. Quod enim tempus fuit aut nostra aut patrum nostrorum memoria quo haec sive ambitio est sive liberalitas non fuerit ut locus et in circo et in foro daretur amicis et tribulibus? Haec homines tenuiores praemia commodaque a suis tribulibus vetere instituto adsequebantur * * * *

[72] But the spectacles were given by tribes, and to a luncheon men were called in the common sort. Although this was not done at all by Murena, judges, yet it was done by his friends according to custom and with moderation; nevertheless, being admonished by the thing itself, I recall how much these complaints, delivered in the senate, have taken away of points from us, Servius. For what time has there been, either in our memory or in that of our fathers, in which this—whether it is ambition or liberality—has not existed, namely, that a place both in the circus and in the forum was given to friends and fellow-tribesmen? These poorer men used to obtain these rewards and advantages from their fellow-tribesmen by ancient institution * * * *

[73] Praefectum fabrum semel locum tribulibus suis dedisse, quid statuent in viros primarios qui in circo totas tabernas tribulium causa compararunt? Haec omnia sectatorum, spectaculorum, prandiorum item crimina a multitudine in tuam nimiam diligentiam, Servi, coniecta sunt, in quibus tamen Murena ab senatus auctoritate defenditur. Quid enim?

[73] That a prefect of the engineers once gave a seat to his fellow-tribesmen—what will they decree against men of the first rank who in the Circus purchased whole booths for the sake of their tribesmen? All these charges of followers, of spectacles, and likewise of luncheons have been cast by the multitude onto your excessive diligence, Servius, in which matters, however, Murena is defended by the authority of the senate. For what, indeed?

senatus num obviam prodire crimen putat? Non, sed mercede. Convince.

Does the senate think that going out to meet is a crime? No, but when it is for pay. Prove it.

Num sectari multos? Non, sed conductos. Doce.

Is it to have many followers? No, but hired ones. Show it.

Num locum ad spectandum dare aut <ad> prandium invitare? Minime, sed volgo, passim. Quid est volgo?

Is it to grant a place for spectating or to invite lunch? By no means, but to the masses, indiscriminately. What is “volgo”?

Vniversos. Non igitur, si L. Natta, summo loco adulescens, qui et quo animo iam sit et qualis vir futurus sit videmus, in equitum centuriis voluit esse et ad hoc officium necessitudinis et ad reliquum tempus gratiosus, id erit eius vitrico fraudi aut crimini, nec, si virgo Vestalis, huius propinqua et necessaria, locum suum gladiatorium concessit huic, non et illa pie fecit et hic a culpa est remotus. Omnia haec sunt officia necessariorum, commoda tenuiorum, munia candidatorum.

Everyone. Therefore, if Lucius Natta, a young man of the highest rank—whose mind as it now is, and what sort of man he is going to be, we see—wished to be in the centuries of the equites and, by this duty of kinship and for the time to come, to be in favor, that will not be to his stepfather a detriment or a charge; nor, if a Vestal Virgin, his kinswoman and close connection, granted to him her gladiatorial seat, did not both she act piously and he is removed from blame. All these are the duties of kinsfolk, the conveniences of the humbler, the obligations of candidates.

[74] At enim agit mecum austere et Stoice Cato, negat verum esse adlici benivolentiam cibo, negat iudicium hominum in magistratibus mandandis corrumpi voluptatibus oportere. Ergo, ad cenam petitionis causa si quis vocat, condemnetur? 'Quippe' inquit 'tu mihi summum imperium, tu summam auctoritatem, tu gubernacula rei publicae petas fovendis hominum sensibus et deleniendis animis et adhibendis voluptatibus?

[74] But indeed Cato deals with me austerely and Stoically, he denies it to be true that benevolence is allured by food, he denies that the judgment of men, in entrusting magistracies, ought to be corrupted by pleasures. Therefore, if someone invites to a dinner for the sake of canvassing, is he to be condemned? 'Indeed,' he says, 'is it that you seek from me the highest command, the highest authority, the helm of the commonwealth by cherishing men’s senses and soothing minds and employing pleasures?'

Vtrum lenocinium' inquit 'a grege delicatae iuventutis, an orbis terrarum imperium a populo Romano petebas?' Horribilis oratio; sed eam usus, vita, mores, civitas ipsa respuit. Neque tamen Lacedaemonii, auctores istius vitae atque orationis, qui cotidianis epulis in robore accumbunt, neque vero Cretes quorum nemo gustavit umquam cubans, melius quam Romani homines qui tempora voluptatis laborisque dispertiunt res publicas suas retinuerunt; quorum alteri uno adventu nostri exercitus deleti sunt, alteri nostri imperi praesidio disciplinam suam legesque conservant.

‘Whether pandering,’ he says, ‘from a flock of delicate youth, or were you seeking the empire of the world from the Roman people?’ A horrible speech; but usage, life, morals, the commonwealth itself rejects it. Nor yet have the Lacedaemonians, authors of that way of life and of that discourse, who at daily banquets recline on oak, nor indeed the Cretans, of whom no one ever tasted food reclining, held their commonwealths better than Roman men, who apportion the times of pleasure and of labor; of whom the former were annihilated by one arrival of our army, the latter preserve their discipline and their laws by the protection of our empire.

[75] Qua re noli, Cato, maiorum instituta quae res ipsa, quae diuturnitas imperi comprobat nimium severa oratione reprehendere. Fuit eodem ex studio vir eruditus apud patres nostros et honestus homo et nobilis, Q. Tubero. Is, cum epulum Q. Maximus P. Africani, patrui sui, nomine populo Romano daret, rogatus est a Maximo ut triclinium sterneret, cum esset Tubero eiusdem Africani sororis filius.

[75] Wherefore do not, Cato, with an overly severe oration, reproach the institutions of the ancestors, which the thing itself, which the long duration of the empire, corroborates. There was from this same study a learned man among our forefathers, and an honorable and noble man, Q. Tubero. He, when Q. Maximus, in the name of P. Africanus, his uncle, was giving a banquet to the Roman people, was asked by Maximus to lay out the triclinium, since Tubero was the son of that same Africanus’s sister.

Atque ille, homo eruditissimus ac Stoicus, stravit pelliculis haedinis lectulos Punicanos et euit vasa Samia, quasi vero esset Diogenes Cynicus mortuus et non divini hominis Africani mors honestaretur; quem cum supremo eius die Maximus laudaret, gratias egit dis immortalibus quod ille vir in hac re publica potissimum natus esset; necesse enim fuisse ibi esse terrarum imperium ubi ille esset. Huius in morte celebranda graviter tulit populus Romanus hanc perversam sapientiam

And he, a most erudite man and a Stoic, spread Punic little couches with kid-skins and set out Samian vessels, as though in truth it were Diogenes the Cynic who had died and not that the death of the divine man Africanus was being honored; whom, when Maximus praised him on his last day, he gave thanks to the immortal gods that that man had been born most especially in this republic; for it had been necessary that the empire of the lands be there where he was. In the celebrating of his death the Roman people took grievously this perverse wisdom

[76] Tuberonis, itaque homo integerrimus, civis optimus, cum esset L. Pauli nepos, P. Africani, ut dixi, sororis filius, his haedinis pelliculis praetura deiectus est. Odit populus Romanus privatam luxuriam, publicam magnificentiam diligit; non amat profusas epulas, sordis et inhumanitatem multo minus; distinguit rationem officiorum ac temporum, vicissitudinem laboris ac voluptatis. Nam quod ais nulla re adlici hominum mentis oportere ad magistratum mandandum nisi dignitate, hoc tu ipse in quo summa est dignitas non servas.

[76] Because of Tubero, therefore, a man most unimpeachable, an excellent citizen, although he was the grandson of L. Paulus, the son of the sister of P. Africanus, as I said, by these kid-skin pelts he was cast down from the praetorship. The Roman people hate private luxury; they love public magnificence; they do not love profuse banquets, much less sordidness and inhumanity; they distinguish the rationale of duties and of times, the vicissitude of labor and of pleasure. For as to your saying that men’s minds ought to be allured by nothing to the entrusting of a magistracy except by dignity, this you yourself, in whom is the highest dignity, do not observe.

Cur enim quemquam ut studeat tibi, ut te adiuvet rogas? Rogas tu me ut mihi praesis, ut committam ego me tibi. Quid tandem?

Why, indeed, do you ask anyone to be devoted to you, to aid you? Do you ask me that you preside over me, that I commit myself to you? What, after all?

istuc me rogari oportet abs te, an te potius a me ut pro mea salute laborem periculumque suscipias?

Ought I to be asked that by you, or rather you by me, to undertake labor and peril for my safety?

[77] Quid quod habes nomenclatorem? in eo quidem fallis et decipis. Nam, si nomine appellari abs te civis tuos honestum est, turpe est eos notiores esse servo tuo quam tibi.

[77] What of the fact that you have a nomenclator? In this, indeed, you mislead and deceive. For if it is honorable that your fellow citizens be addressed by name by you, it is shameful that they be better known to your slave than to you.

Sin iam noris, tamen<ne> per monitorem appellandi sunt cum petis, quasi incertus sis? Quid quod, cum admoneris, tamen, quasi tute noris, ita salutas? Quid, postea quam es designatus, multo salutas neglegentius?

But if you already know them, must they still be addressed through a prompter when you are seeking office, as if you were uncertain? What of the fact that, when you have been prompted, nevertheless you greet as if you knew them yourself? What of the fact that, after you have been designated, you greet much more negligently?

Haec omnia ad rationem civitatis si derigas, recta sunt; sin perpendere ad disciplinae praecepta velis, reperiantur pravissima. Qua re nec plebi Romanae eripiendi fructus isti sunt ludorum, gladiatorum, conviviorum, quae omnia maiores nostri comparaverunt, nec candidatis ista benignitas adimenda est quae liberalitatem magis significat quam largitionem.

All these things, if you direct them according to the rationale of the commonwealth, are right; but if you wish to weigh them by the precepts of discipline, they are found most perverse. Wherefore neither should those fruits of games, gladiators, and banquets be snatched away from the Roman plebs, all of which our ancestors provided, nor should this benignity be taken away from candidates, which signifies liberality more than largess.

[78] At enim te ad accusandum res publica adduxit. Credo, Cato, te isto animo atque ea opinione venisse; sed tu imprudentia laberis. Ego quod facio, iudices, cum amicitiae dignitatisque L. Murenae gratia facio, tum me pacis, oti, concordiae, libertatis, salutis, vitae denique omnium nostrum causa facere clamo atque testor.

[78] But, indeed, the commonwealth has led you to prosecute. I believe, Cato, that you came with that spirit and that opinion; but you slip through imprudence. What I do, judges, while I do it for the sake of the friendship and dignity of L. Murena, I at the same time proclaim and attest that I do it for the sake of peace, repose, concord, liberty, safety, and, finally, the life of us all.

Audite, audite consulem, iudices, nihil dicam adrogantius, tantum dicam totos dies atque noctes de re publica cogitantem! Non usque eo L. Catilina rem publicam despexit atque contempsit ut ea copia quam secum eduxit se hanc civitatem oppressurum arbitraretur. Latius patet illius sceleris contagio quam quisquam putat, ad pluris pertinet.

Hear, hear the Consul, judges: I will say nothing more arrogant; I will only say this—thinking about the Republic whole days and nights! L. Catiline did not so despise and contemn the Republic as to suppose that with the force which he led out with him he would crush this city. The contagion of that crime extends more widely than anyone thinks; it pertains to more persons.

Intus, intus, inquam, est equus Troianus; a quo numquam me consule dormientes opprimemini.

Inside, inside, I say, is the Trojan horse; by which, with me as consul, you will never be overwhelmed while sleeping.

[79] Quaeris a me ecquid ego Catilinam metuam. Nihil, et curavi ne quis metueret, sed copias illius quas hic video dico esse metuendas; nec tam timendus est nunc exercitus L. Catilinae quam isti qui illum exercitum deseruisse dicuntur. Non enim deseruerunt sed ab illo in speculis atque insidiis relicti in capite atque in cervicibus nostris restiterunt.

[79] You ask me whether I fear Catiline at all. Not at all, and I have taken care that no one should fear; but I say that those forces of his which I see here are to be feared; nor is the army of L. Catiline now so much to be feared as those who are said to have deserted that army. For they did not desert, but, left by him in watch-posts and ambushes, they have taken their stand upon our head and our necks.

Hi et integrum consulem et bonum imperatorem et natura et fortuna cum rei publicae salute coniunctum deici de urbis praesidio et de custodia civitatis vestris sententiis deturbari volunt. Quorum ego ferrum et audaciam reieci in campo, debilitavi in foro, compressi etiam domi meae saepe, iudices, his vos si alterum consulem tradideritis, plus multo erunt vestris sententiis quam suis gladiis consecuti. Magni interest, iudices, id quod ego multis repugnantibus egi atque perfeci, esse Kalendis Ianuariis in re publica duo consules.

These men want an unimpaired consul and a good commander, a man by nature and by fortune conjoined with the safety of the republic, to be cast down from the defense of the city and from the guardianship of the state by your votes. Their steel and audacity I drove back in the field, I debilitated in the forum, I even suppressed often at my own house, judges; if you hand over to these men a second consul, they will have achieved by your votes much more than by their swords. It is of great moment, judges, that which I, with many opposing, have done and brought to completion: that on January 1 there be in the republic two consuls.

[80] Nolite arbitrari, mediocribus consiliis aut usitatis viis <eos> uti. Non lex improba, non perniciosa largitio, non auditum aliquando aliquod malum rei publicae quaeritur. Inita sunt in hac civitate consilia, iudices, urbis delendae, civium trucidandorum, nominis Romani exstinguendi.

[80] Do not suppose that they are employing moderate counsels or accustomed ways. It is not a depraved law, not a pernicious largess, not some evil of the commonwealth once heard of, that is being sought. In this city, judges, counsels have been undertaken for the city to be destroyed, for the citizens to be butchered, for the Roman name to be extinguished.

Atque haec cives, cives, inquam, si eos hoc nomine appellari fas est, de patria sua et cogitant et cogitaverunt. Horum ego cotidie consiliis occurro, audaciam debilito, sceleri resisto. Sed moneo, iudices.

And these men—citizens, citizens, I say, if it is lawful for them to be called by this name—both are thinking and have thought about their fatherland. Their counsels I meet every day, I debilitate their audacity, I resist their crime. But I warn, judges.

In exitu iam est meus consulatus; nolite mihi subtrahere vicarium meae diligentiae, nolite adimere eum cui rem publicam cupio tradere incolumem ab his tantis periculis defendendam.

My consulship is now at its close; do not withdraw from me the vicar of my diligence; do not take away him to whom I desire to hand over the Republic, intact, to be defended from these so great dangers.

[81] Atque ad haec mala, iudices, quid accedat aliud non videtis? Te, te appello, Cato; nonne prospicis tempestatem anni tui? Iam enim <in> hesterna contione intonuit vox perniciosa designati tribuni, conlegae tui; contra quem multum tua mens, multum omnes boni providerunt qui te ad tribunatus petitionem vocaverunt.

[81] And to these evils, judges, do you not see what else is being added? You, you I appeal to, Cato; do you not foresee the tempest of your year? For already <in> yesterday’s assembly there thundered the pernicious voice of the tribune-designate, your colleague; against whom your mind has made much provision, and much have all the good men who called you to the canvassing for the tribunate.

Omnia quae per hoc triennium agitata sunt, iam ab eo tempore quo a L. Catilina et Cn. Pisone initum consilium senatus interficiendi scitis esse, in hos dies, in hos mensis, in hoc tempus erumpunt.

All the things which through this triennium have been agitated, from that very time when you know that by L. Catiline and Cn. Piso a plan for killing the senate was entered upon, burst forth into these days, into these months, into this time.

[82] Qui locus est, iudices, quod tempus, qui dies, quae nox cum ego non ex istorum insidiis ac mucronibus non solum meo sed multo etiam magis divino consilio eripiar atque evolem? Neque isti me meo nomine interfici sed vigilantem consulem de rei publicae praesidio demoveri volunt. Nec minus vellent, Cato, te quoque aliqua ratione, si possent, tollere; id quod, mihi crede, et agunt et moliuntur.

[82] What place is there, judges, what time, what day, what night, when I am not snatched away and take flight from those men’s ambushes and blades, not by my own but much more by divine counsel? Nor do those men wish me to be killed on my own account, but that a vigilant consul be removed from the defense of the republic. Nor would they be less willing, Cato, to remove you also by some contrivance, if they could; which thing, believe me, they both are doing and are endeavoring to accomplish.

Vident quantum in te sit animi, quantum ingeni, quantum auctoritatis, quantum rei publicae praesidi; sed, cum consulari auctoritate et auxilio spoliatam vim tribuniciam viderint, tum se facilius inermem et debilitatum te oppressuros arbitrantur. Nam ne sufficiatur consul non timent. Vident in tuorum potestate conlegarum fore; sperant sibi <D.> Silanum, clarum virum, sine conlega, te sine consule, rem publicam sine praesidio obici posse.

They see how much spirit there is in you, how much talent, how much authority, how much protection of the republic; but, when they shall have seen the tribunician power despoiled of consular authority and aid, then they reckon they will more easily overwhelm you unarmed and debilitated. For they do not fear that a consul will be appointed as a substitute. They see that it will lie in the power of your colleagues; they hope that <D.> Silanus, a renowned man, without a colleague, you without a consul, the republic without a protection, can be exposed to them.

[83] His tantis in rebus tantisque in periculis est tuum, M. Cato, qui mihi non tibi, sed patriae natus esse <videris>, videre quid agatur, retinere adiutorem, defensorem, socium in re publica, consulem non cupidum, consulem, quod maxime tempus hoc postulat, fortuna constitutum ad amplexandum otium, scientia ad bellum gerendum, animo et usu ad quod velis negotium <sustinendum>.

[83] In such great affairs and such great dangers, it is your part, M. Cato—you who seem to me to have been born not for yourself but for the fatherland—to see what is being done, to retain a helper, a defender, a partner in the republic, a consul not greedy: a consul, such as this time chiefly demands, established by fortune for embracing otium, by knowledge for waging war, by spirit and practice for sustaining whatever business you will.

Quamquam huiusce rei potestas omnis in vobis sita est, iudices; totam rem publicam vos in hac causa tenetis, vos gubernatis. Si L. Catilina cum suo consilio nefariorum hominum quos secum eduxit hac de re posset iudicare, condemnaret L. Murenam, si interficere posset, occideret. Petunt enim rationes illius ut orbetur auxilio res publica, ut minuatur contra suum furorem imperatorum copia, ut maior facultas tribunis plebis detur depulso adversario seditionis ac discordiae concitandae.

Although all the power of this matter is placed in you, judges; you hold the whole republic in this case, you govern it. If L. Catiline, with his council of nefarious men whom he has led out with him, could judge concerning this matter, he would condemn L. Murena; if he could kill him, he would slay him. For that man’s calculations seek that the republic be bereft of assistance, that the supply of commanders against his frenzy be diminished, that, the adversary driven off, greater opportunity be given to the tribunes of the plebs for stirring up sedition and discord.

Idemne igitur delecti ex amplissimis ordinibus honestissimi atque sapientissimi viri iudicabunt quod ille importunissimus gladiator, hostis rei publicae iudicaret?

Will, then, the most honorable and most sapient men, chosen from the most distinguished orders, judge the same thing that that most outrageous gladiator, an enemy of the republic, would judge?

[84] Mihi credite, iudices, in hac causa non solum de L. Murenae verum etiam de vestra salute sententiam feretis. In discrimen extremum venimus; nihil est iam unde nos reficiamus aut ubi lapsi resistamus. Non solum minuenda non sunt auxilia quae habemus sed etiam nova, si fieri possit, comparanda.

[84] Believe me, judges, in this cause you will render a judgment not only about L. Murena but even about your own safety. We have come into the extreme crisis; there is now nothing from which we might restore ourselves or where, having slipped, we might stand fast. Not only are the aids which we have not to be diminished, but even new ones, if it can be done, are to be procured.

Hostis est enim non apud Anienem, quod bello Punico gravissimum visum est, sed in urbe, in foro--di immortales! sine gemitu hoc dici non potest--non nemo etiam in illo sacrario rei publicae, in ipsa, inquam, curia non nemo hostis est. Di faxint ut meus conlega, vir fortissimus, hoc Catilinae nefarium latrocinium armatus opprimat!

For the enemy is not at the Anio, which in the Punic War seemed most grave, but in the city, in the Forum--immortal gods! this cannot be said without a groan--indeed there are some even in that shrine of the Republic; in the Curia itself, I say, there are some who are enemies. May the gods grant that my colleague, a most brave man, may, armed, suppress this nefarious brigandage of Catiline!

ego togatus vobis bonisque omnibus adiutoribus hoc quod conceptum res publica periculum parturit consilio discutiam et comprimam.

I, in the toga, with you and all good men as helpers, will by counsel dispel and suppress this peril, conceived, with which the Republic is in labor.

[85] Sed quid tandem fiet, si haec elapsa de manibus nostris in eum annum qui consequitur redundarint? Vnus erit consul, et is non in administrando bello sed in sufficiendo conlega occupatus. Hunc iam qui impedituri sint * * * illa pestis immanis importuna Catilinae prorumpet, qua po * * * minatur; in agros suburbanos repente advolabit; versabitur <in urbe> furor, in curia timor, in foro coniuratio, in campo exercitus, in agris vastitas; omni autem in sede ac loco ferrum flammamque metuemus.

[85] But what, pray, will happen, if, having slipped from our hands, these things overflow into that year which follows? There will be one consul, and he will be occupied not in administering the war but in supplying a colleague. Who now will be those to hinder him * * *? that monstrous, importunate pest of Catiline will burst forth, with which he * * * threatens; upon the suburban fields he will suddenly swoop; frenzy will be busied, in the Curia fear, in the Forum conspiracy, in the field an army, in the fields devastation; and in every seat and place we shall fear steel and flame.

Quae iam diu comparantur, eadem ista omnia, si ornata suis praesidiis erit res publica, facile et magistratuum consiliis et privatorum diligentia comprimentur.

The very same things which have long now been prepared, if the Republic is adorned with its own safeguards, will easily be suppressed both by the counsels of the magistrates and by the diligence of private persons.

[86] Quae cum ita sint, iudices, primum rei publicae causa, qua nulla res cuiquam potior debet esse, vos pro mea summa et vobis cognita in re publica diligentia moneo, pro auctoritate consulari hortor, pro magnitudine periculi obtestor, ut otio, ut paci, ut saluti, ut vitae vestrae et ceterorum civium consulatis; deinde ego idem et defensoris et amici officio adductus oro atque obsecro, iudices, ut ne hominis miseri et cum corporis morbo tum animi dolore confecti, L. Murenae, recentem gratulationem nova lamentatione obruatis. Modo maximo beneficio populi Romani ornatus fortunatus videbatur, quod primus in familiam veterem, primus in municipium antiquissimum consulatum attulisset; nunc idem <in> squalore et sordibus, confectus morbo, lacrimis ac maerore perditus vester est supplex, iudices, vestram fidem obtestatur, <vestram> misericordiam implorat, vestram potestatem ac vestras opes intuetur.

[86] Since these things are so, judges, first for the sake of the commonwealth, than which nothing ought to be more important to anyone, I, on the strength of my utmost and to you well-known diligence in public affairs, warn you; by consular authority I exhort you; in view of the magnitude of the danger I adjure you, to take thought for quiet, for peace, for safety, for your own life and that of the other citizens; then I likewise, moved by the duty both of defender and friend, beg and beseech, judges, that you do not overwhelm with a new lamentation the recent congratulation of the wretched man, L. Murena, worn out both by disease of the body and by pain of mind. Lately he seemed adorned and fortunate by the greatest benefaction of the Roman People, because he, first into an old family, first into a most ancient municipality, had brought the consulship; now the same man, in squalor and filth, worn out by illness, undone by tears and grief, is your suppliant, judges; he calls upon your good faith, he implores your mercy, he looks to your power and your resources.

[87] Nolite, per deos immortalis! iudices, hac eum cum re qua se honestiorem fore putavit etiam ceteris ante partis honestatibus atque omni dignitate fortunaque privare. Atque ita vos L. Murena, iudices, orat atque obsecrat, si iniuste neminem laesit, si nullius auris voluntatemve violavit, si nemini, ut levissime dicam, odio nec domi nec militiae fuit, sit apud vos modestiae locus, sit demissis hominibus perfugium, sit auxilium pudori.

[87] Do not, by the immortal gods! judges, with this very thing by which he thought he would become more honorable, also deprive him of the other honors previously won and of all dignity and fortune. And thus L. Murena, judges, entreats and beseeches you: if he has unjustly injured no one, if he has violated the ears or the good will of no one, if—to say the least—he has been hateful to no one, neither at home nor in military service, let there be with you a place for modesty, let there be a refuge for the downcast, let there be aid for a sense of honor.

Misericordiam spoliatio consulatus magnam habere debet, iudices; una enim eripiuntur cum consulatu omnia; invidiam vero his temporibus habere consulatus ipse nullam potest; obicitur enim contionibus seditiosorum, insidiis coniuratorum, telis Catilinae, ad omne denique periculum atque ad omnem iniuriam solus opponitur.

The spoliation of the consulship ought to have great mercy, judges; for together with the consulship everything is snatched away; but the consulship itself in these times can have no envy; for it is cast before the assemblies of the seditious, the plots of conspirators, the weapons of Catiline, and, finally, it alone is set in opposition to every danger and to every injury.

[88] Qua re quid invidendum Murenae aut cuiquam nostrum sit in hoc praeclaro consulatu non video, iudices; quae vero miseranda sunt, ea et mihi ante oculos versantur et vos videre et perspicere potestis. Si, quod Iuppiter omen avertat! hunc vestris sententiis adflixeritis, quo se miser vertet?

[88] Therefore I do not see, judges, what there is to be envied in Murena or in any of us in this illustrious consulship; but the things truly to be pitied both pass before my eyes, and you too can see and perspicuously perceive them. If—may Jupiter avert the omen!—you afflict this man by your judgments, whither will the wretch turn himself?

domumne? ut eam imaginem clarissimi viri, parentis sui, quam paucis ante diebus laureatam in sua gratulatione conspexit, eandem deformatam ignominia lugentemque videat? An ad matrem quae misera modo consulem osculata filium suum nunc cruciatur et sollicita est ne eundem paulo post spoliatum omni dignitate conspiciat?

Home? That he may see that image of a most illustrious man, his parent, which a few days before, laureate in his own congratulation, he beheld—the same now deformed by ignominy and mourning? Or to his mother, who, wretched, having but lately kissed her son the consul, is now racked and anxious lest shortly after she may behold that same man stripped of all dignity?

[89] Sed quid eius matrem aut domum appello quem nova poena legis et domo et parente et omnium suorum consuetudine conspectuque privat? Ibit igitur in exsilium miser? Quo?

[89] But why do I address his mother or his home, whom a new punishment of the law deprives both of home and of parent and of the consuetude and the sight of all his own? Will the wretch therefore go into exile? Whither?

ad Orientisne partis in quibus annos multos legatus fuit, exercitus duxit, res maximas gessit? At habet magnum dolorem, unde cum honore decesseris, eodem cum ignominia reverti. An se in contrariam partem terrarum abdet, ut Gallia Transalpina, quem nuper summo cum imperio libentissime viderit, eundem lugentem, maerentem, exsulem videat?

To the eastern parts, in which for many years he was a legate, led armies, accomplished the greatest deeds? But he has a great grief: to return with ignominy to the very place whence you departed with honor. Or will he hide himself in the opposite quarter of the lands, such as Transalpine Gaul, so that she who recently most gladly saw him with the highest imperium may see that same man mourning, grieving, an exile?

In ea porro provincia quo animo C. Murenam fratrem suum aspiciet? Qui huius dolor, qui illius maeror erit, quae utriusque lamentatio, quanta autem perturbatio fortunae atque sermonis, cum, quibus in locis paucis ante diebus factum esse consulem Murenam nuntii litteraeque celebrassent et unde hospites atque amici gratulatum Romam concurrerent, repente exstiterit ipse nuntius suae calamitatis!

In that province, then, with what spirit will he look upon his brother C. Murena? What will be this man’s pain, what that one’s mourning, what the lamentation of each, and how great, moreover, the perturbation of fortune and of discourse, when, in the very places where a few days before messengers and letters had celebrated that Murena had been made consul, and from which hosts and friends were flocking to Rome to offer congratulations, suddenly he himself has stood forth as the messenger of his own calamity!

[90] Quae si acerba, si misera, si luctuosa sunt, si alienissima <a> mansuetudine et misericordia vestra, iudices, conservate populi Romani beneficium, reddite rei publicae consulem, date hoc ipsius pudori, date patri mortuo, date generi et familiae, date etiam Lanuvio, municipio honestissimo, quod in hac tota <causa> frequens maestumque vidistis. Nolite a sacris patriis Iunonis Sospitae, cui omnis consules facere necesse est, domesticum et suum consulem potissimum avellere. Quem ego vobis, si quid habet aut momenti commendatio aut auctoritatis confirmatio mea, consul consulem, iudices, ita commendo <ut> cupidissimum oti, studiosissimum bonorum, acerrimum contra seditionem, fortissimum in bello, inimicissimum huic coniurationi quae nunc rem publicam labefactat futurum esse promittam et spondeam.

[90] If these things are bitter, if wretched, if mournful, if most alien to your mansuetude and mercy, judges, preserve the benefit of the Roman people, restore to the commonwealth a consul, grant this to his very modesty, grant it to his dead father, grant it to his son-in-law and family, grant it also to Lanuvium, a most honorable municipium, which in this whole <cause> you have seen present in numbers and sorrowful. Do not tear away from the ancestral rites of Juno Sospita, to whom all consuls must perform sacrifices, their domestic and own consul above all. Him I to you—if my recommendation has any weight or my confirmation any authority—consul to consul, judges, thus commend, <that> I promise and pledge he will be most desirous of leisure, most studious of the good, most keen against sedition, most brave in war, most inimical to this conjuration which now makes the commonwealth totter.